Appealing to Heidegger's Fourfold Contemplation in Post-Anthropocene Environmental Education

Abstract

Relevance. If the environment continues to deteriorate, the Anthropocene could be a short geological epoch followed by humankind’s extinction. Some might assume that education should shoulder the responsibility for solving the problem – or at least prepare young people for life in a post-anthropocentric world. The formal education systems still tend to reproduce the current speciesist epistemology. This can be understood as a continuation of knowledge in the service of capitalism, which is not conducive to helping raise students’ awareness of a posthuman ecosystem. Purpose. This essay critiques the role of formal education in addressing the environmental crisis in the Anthropocene, arguing that institutionalized education perpetuates capitalist epistemologies that exploit nature as a standing reserve. Methods. As an antithesis, this paper proposes scholé – inactivity and contemplation – as a pathway to environmental stewardship, rooted in Greco-Roman philosophies and extended through Pieper’s concepts. Calculative thinking, which frames the world instrumentally, is also positioned against contemplation owing to the latter’s secularization. Novelty. Heidegger’s “fourfold” (earth, sky, divinities, mortals) is presented as a framework for metaphysical contemplation that suspends calculative thinking, fosters poetic dwelling, and reveals concealed meanings in nature. Conclusion. Heideggerian fourfold contemplation, as a scholé activity, should be encouraged in light of formal education’s ambiguity with regard to addressing the climate crisis caused by capitalism’s self-correcting engine. This article outlines a classroom design that applies Heidegger’s fourfold to everyday objects; two photographic examples are used to illustrate how Heideggerian contemplation can be implemented.