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Heidegger & environmental philosophy

“Naturalism...” “Phenomenology...” “Metaphysics...”

Gasp… these were mainly the only words I picked up in the lecture. Can you have a guess the theme of the talks?

Clue - Aristotle, Kant & Hagel were mentioned.

I attended the 'Heidegger on Nature' workshop over the weekend at the Australian Catholic University.

Fig. 1 - My attempt to draw a portrait of Heidegger. Image inspiration: https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/spiked-online.com/images/reviewofbooks/march2015/black_notebooks.jpg

Why?

I remember stumbling across it online. I searched my history log a minute ago and the first instance I encountered it was on the 21st of April. (I may have been looking for events related to 'environment' and 'philosophy'). On the flyer, I recognised terms like 'techne,' 'technology' and 'nature,' I registered right away. Backstory... In my second year of uni, on the third week of class, we had a reading called 'Building, Dwelling, Thinking' by Heidegger. I still remember my teacher attempting to explain Heidegger's concepts of the 'fourfold' visually. I also vaguely remember everyone groaning at the thought of being handed a long reading with 'philosophical' language. But, I thoroughly enjoyed the reading. I was intrigued by the interpretation of the teacher's analysis of the reading. I didn't know that three years after the birth of this hunger for knowledge/ideas of this subject, that I can confidently judge my competence in reading, analysing and writing. What did I observe? The 'language' of the talk was new. It was very 'philosophical.' ('being...,' 'I am...,' ' self and man...') I come from an 'Architecture' background with knowledge interests in abstract concepts - theoretical or historical ideas about architecture. I thought I could connect some terms and ideas from the talks and link it with the 'built environment,' but I couldn't manage to filter any of the words. Okay, it may be because I wasn't well acquainted with the many writings of Heidegger... What happened? The workshop was hosted by ACU's School of Philosophy, Religion & Culture and the Institute for Religion & Critical Inquiry. It ran over two days (9 to 5pm). The talks was held at 'Christ Lecture Theatre.'

Fig. 2 - Contemporary building that housed the lecture theatre for the workshop. Note: Personally taken photo.

Being a 'Catholic' University, I noticed many wooden 'cross' sculptures on the walls and scriptures from Catholic saints (Note - One speaker mentioned a bible verse to support his argument...) I was grateful for meeting people who encouraged my interests in 'environmental architecture.' I realised that by going out to events like this, the questions people ask, almost 'force' me to talk and tell about myself/my field/my goals. It also keeps me 'accountable' of who I talk to and what I share about my profession/field (the process of absorbing information and then explaining it using retrieved information helps me find what I know and the information I lack). The talks were 'argumentative' in tone. I observed the speaker's body language and the majority emphasised their key points with raising their arms up and down. It was very serious. 'Seriousness' backed up with solid quote references and arguments. At the end of each 30 to 40 minute talk, there were views and questions from the audience (non academics and academics). I liked the 'atmosphere' of the 'sharing' of intellectual opinions ('symposium' is a nice word to describe this environment). Like art and literature, I wonder if there a limit of a debate or a sense of an 'absolute' notion in philosophy? Take-aways: - The importance of respecting people's arguments and opinions (speakers' & listeners' personal journey in their own search for knowledge and truths). - Topics of 'philosophy' and 'nature' are interdisciplinary - i.e architecture, science etc. - Philosophy is hard. Architecture and philosophy? What does it mean to build? Why do we build? I will cover this in a future post.

References: http://www.acu.edu.au/about_acu/faculties,_institutes_and_centres/theology_and_philosophy/events/conferences/heidegger_and_nature_workshop

https://www.acu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/1195775/Heidegger_And_Nature_Workshop_Flyer-FINAL.pdf

#student architect #reflective journal #philosophy of architecture #heidegger #environmental philosophy

i think architecture students are pro lucid dreamers

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