Nature, Culture, and Life World. Some Ontological Considerations

Abstract

In this paper I want to introduce and develop the concept of 風土 fūdo, or geo-cultural climate, an idea found in the work of the Japanese philosopher Watsuji Tetsurō. My claim will be that this concept can help us with two things. First, it can help us better understand the puzzling relationship between nature and artifice, i.e., nature and culture, and second, it can help us re-imagine the concept of nature in a way that holds out the possibility of a re-enchanted natural world.