Catherine Larrère
Université Paris1-Panthéon-Sorbonne
Abstract
For French social scientists studying environmental issues, nature does not exist. This French scheme must be distinguished from other, more anglosaxon, conceptions of the end of nature. In France, to say that nature does not exist is not a postmodern construction it has historical roots in modern French philosophy and it has been used to criticize nature conservation, but also, more paradoxically so, to promote environmental activism. Both the sociologist Bruno Latour and the anthropologist Philippe Descola, agree in seeing nature as a western construction, which cannot be found in other cultures with different ontologies. In defense of nature, ordinary language arguments may be used, but philosophical arguments as well.
Keywords
Nature – End of Nature – Modernity – Environment – Living World
DOI: 10.13131/2611-9757/v1fj-1m17
