Philosophical-Anthropological Considerations for an Existential-Humanistic Ecopsychology

Abstract

In this article, the question of human nature is confronted from what may be called an existential-humanistic ecopsychological perspective. From this perspective, human nature is interpreted to be a synthetic, bipolar human–animal boundary form. The global character of this living form is noted to be a dynamic, oscillating hermeneutical-dialectical interplay between humanitas and animalitas. This appropriation of the human–animal boundary idea provides a wide-open, welcoming space for diverse conceptualizations of human life. At the same time, it maintains that human beings and nonhuman animals are indubitably embedded in a natural world within which we are active coparticipants in the development of experiential perspectives on our own bodies, those of others, and the natural environment at large.

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Notes on contributors

Eugene M. DeRobertis

Professor Eugene M. DeRobertis is chair of the Department of Psychology & Human Services at Brookdale Community College. He is also part-time Lecturer for the Department of Undergraduate Psychology at Rutgers–Newark.