Introduction: Identity and the Natural Environment

Abstract

HNR: If the value of nature is not purely economic, what is it? What makes our relationship with nature an emotional one? And what makes an environmental issue evoke strong moral considerations? We believe that the answer has to do with identity - how we define ourselves, others, and nature. 4-5 Identity good discussion.. little consensus 5 traditionally linked with self-concept and involving beliefs about who we are and who we want to be. dialectic: In a psychoanalytic sense, identity is formed by separation: the developing child builds a sense of who it is by distinguishing itself from what it is not (Segal, 1973). develops in social contexts, based on social interdependence (Snyder & Cantor, 1998) 5 extend - include identity in the context of nature.. 6 Nature traditionally.. "our nonhuman surroundings" (Simmon, 1993, p. 11) 6 CONTINUED...