Apathy & Ecological Crisis: A Phenomenological Study

Abstract

In this work I offer a phenomenological assessment of the ways in which we experience a sense of disconnection in the face of ecological crisis. By critical engagement with information deficit theories, sociological studies, as well as various perspectives in cognitive, social, and moral psychology, I claim that we can get a better grasp on the nature and possibility of this phenomenon via an existential phenomenological study of human life. Having identified certain explanatory gaps in existing research I argue that phenomenological insights concerning the situated character of human experience can help us to fundamentally rethink the problematic. By paying close attention to experiential structures such as embodiment, emplacement, and temporality we can understand how a sense of disconnection emerges from the specific way in which human behaviour is integrated with the surrounding world. Ultimately, I claim that this sense of disconnection is nourished and sustained by a modification of temporal experience within urbanised environments, shoring up a sense of ontological security inhibiting environmental concerns.