Affected by Nature: A Hermeneutical Transformation of Environmental Ethics

The value-action gap poses a considerable challenge to normative environmental ethics. Because of the wide array of empirical research results that have become available in the fields of environmental psychology, education, and anthropology, ethicists are at present able to take into account insight...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zygon
Authors: Van den Noortgaete, Francis (Author) ; Tavernier, Johan de 1957- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2014
In: Zygon
Year: 2014, Volume: 49, Issue: 3, Pages: 572-592
Further subjects:B Motivation
B Environmental Ethics
B Hermeneutics
B Emotion
B value-action gap
B proenvironmental behavior
B Transformative Learning
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:The value-action gap poses a considerable challenge to normative environmental ethics. Because of the wide array of empirical research results that have become available in the fields of environmental psychology, education, and anthropology, ethicists are at present able to take into account insights on what effectively motivates proenvironmental behavior. The emotional aspect apparently forms a key element within a transformational process that leads to an internalization of nature within one's identity structure. We compare these findings with studies on environmental activists, which appear to a significantly lesser degree hampered by the value-action gap, thereby attempting to understand what provides them with the drive to act more consistently on their moral attitudes. Hermeneutics is found to play a crucial role in the processes that lead to lasting and consistent motivation toward proenvironmental behavior. An empirically informed hermeneutical approach could therefore provide a promising impetus for contemporary environmental ethics.
ISSN:1467-9744
Contains:Enthalten in: Zygon
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/zygo.12103