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Document Details : Title: Legere - Ligare Subtitle: An Interpretive Key to the Environmentalist Experience of Nature Author(s): VAN DEN NOORTGAETE, Francis , DE TAVERNIER, Johan Journal: Louvain Studies Volume: 38 Issue: 1 Date: 2014 Pages: 55-75 DOI: 10.2143/LS.38.1.3064551 Abstract : Recent anthropological and sociological research indicates that environmentalism harbours certain elements of religiosity. Drawing upon a revisited etymology of religio, rooted in legere and ligare, an interpretive key is proposed to meaningfully structure these elements, integrating notions of – inter alia – contemplation, transcendence, relationality and vocation in environmentalist nature experience. All of these appear to be part of what we will call a ‘life-orienting dynamics’, motivating long-lasting commitment and pro-environmental behaviour. The field of meaning, opened by this legere-ligare approach, aids in unravelling the working of this dynamics. This by no means warrants labelling the movement as ‘religion’. But a conscious articulation and structuring of the religious-like aspects within environmentalist thought could contribute to a better framing of some of its core motivating beliefs, benefitting the coherence and cogency of its message both ad intra and ad extra. |
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