En planetforandrende dualisme - Om natursynets betydning for klimaforandringerne

Abstract

Global climate change is one of the biggest challenges currently facing humanity. There is a strong agreement among geologists, that human impact on the climate have now reached a point, where it is the main geological force. We have therefore entered a new geological age: The Anthropocene. As the climate change is caused by human impact, understanding human reaction to climate change has now become a vital task for psychology as a science.

A main assumption in the current paper is, that the way we perceive and understand nature has an impact on how we approach it. The underlying causes to why humanity have chosen to act in a way that has damaged nature and earth can therefore be sought in our nature view. The current paper is a theoretical investigation of the impact our nature view has on sensitization towards climate change. Furthermore, it is suggested how psychology can contribute to a movement towards greater sensitization.

The phenomenon is addressed through a historical investigation of the nature view based on the ideas of the Norwegian philosopher Hjalmar Hegge. It is found that the present nature view is based on a sharp distinction between humanity and nature, where nature is viewed as a mechanical and quantifiable phenomenon that humanity can control and take advantage of. This nature view has caused a desensitization towards nature. This is followed by an analysis of the consequences of the dualistic nature view based on the ideas of the French philosopher and sociologist Bruno Latour. It is found that the concepts that modern society is based upon makes it difficult to be sensitive towards climate change, and that the laws of economy have gained more influence than the laws of nature which causes further desensitization. In order to understand how the dualistic nature view is maintained through generations, the paper is complemented with the views of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. The findings suggest that the dualistic nature view is imbedded in the habitus through an internalization of the objective structures in the modern society. Furthermore, the dualistic nature view operates as a dominance structure, which inhibits the sensitization towards climate change.

Based on the findings it is concluded that a sensitization towards climate change depends on a radical change in modern thinking by acquiring a new nature view. However, it can be questioned whether the impact of the nature view on sensitization is as strong as it is implied, since the interest in dealing with climate change recently has increased rapidly within the population.

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