Volume 15, Issue 2, Fall 2018
Craig Frayne
Pages 213-236
https://doi.org/10.5840/envirophil201892678
An Ecosemiotic Critique of Heidegger¡¯s Concept of Enframing
This essay presents ecosemiotics as an approach to interpreting Heidegger in environmental philosophy. Comparisons between Heidegger¡¯s philosophy and ecosemiotics have often focused on the 1929¨C1930 lecture course where Heidegger discusses Jakob von Uexk¨¹ll¡¯s notion of Umwelt. These and other ecological interpretations reach an impasse with the sharp ontological boundary Heidegger places between Dasein and more-than-human lifeforms. This essay revisits the theme by focusing on a central concept from Heidegger¡¯s later work: enframing [Gestell]. Enframing, it is argued, can be understood as a rupture between human (cultural) and natural signs, which is a consequence of technological modernity. Although this interpretation diverges from Heidegger¡¯s philosophy, such critical readings may be necessary if Heidegger¡¯s work is to speak to today¡¯s technologies and ecological issues.