Ontology and Closeness in Human-Nature Relationships

Neil H. Kessler is an adjunct professor in the Department of Natural Resources at the University of New Hampshire.  He earned his Ph.D. in natural resources, with a focus on environmental philosophy.  He has extensive experience teaching environmental policy, ecology and ethics, particularly in backcountry settings such as the rainforests of Southeast Alaska.  It is in wild places such as this that he honed the ideas for this book.  When he’s not teaching, Neil serves on his town’s Conservation Commission helping craft regulations and promoting nature overall.

• Part I.Understandings of Human-Nature Relationships.- 1.Ontology and Human-Nature Relationships.-  2.Ecofeminist Dualisms.- 3.Posthumanism’s Material Problem.- Part II.Dualism and Relational Structure.- 4.Human-Nature Relationship Model.- 5.Dualist Effects on Structure and Dynamics.- Part III.Human-Nature Relational Ontology.- 6.Foundations of Human-Nature Relational Ontology.- 7.Relational perception and knowledge.- 8.Material and More-than-material Considerations.- Part IV.Vectors of Interdependence.- 9.Feelings.- 10.Thoughts.- 11.Conclusion: An Example of Modern Closeness?.