Abstract
One of the most common ways of considering ecological discomforts is in terms of risk, which assesses the appropriateness of our distress by compiling the probability and intensity of animal threat. Through a detailed textual analysis of the most common risk discourses I show that the assessment of animal threats, even in these discourses, is not limited to the probability and intensity of threat but involves also the meaning of a threat—the role it plays in the context of wider cultural narratives or identities. In fact, nature writing is replete with intimations that ecological discomforts carry meanings that are crucial for establishing worthwhile connections to nature. Thus, while addressing the threats of nature in terms of risks might seem rational, it nevertheless diminishes the significance of nature in human lives, consequently potentially diminishing concern for it. Examples of domains of life where ecological discomforts play a crucial role are given. While it is not clear from the quoted material exactly why getting in touch with threatening nature is important, hermeneutic interpretation of these texts promises to reveal the underlying meanings.
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Notes
- 1.
We could raise issues of responsibility or irresponsibility of the hunter in firing the shot, but let us assume for our present purposes that no ethical issue was at play here and the shot was fired with all possible care.
- 2.
http://www.humansandnature.org/bambi, accessed: 27.02.2016.
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Tokarski, M. (2019). Risk. In: Hermeneutics of Human-Animal Relations in the Wake of Rewilding. The International Library of Environmental, Agricultural and Food Ethics, vol 30. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18971-6_3
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