The Epistemological Possibilities of Love: Relearning the Love of Land

Abstract

Recent eco-philosophers have recognized the need for an ontological shift in Western perceptions of human and more-than-human relations. The West’s propensity to conceive of humans, animals, plants, elements, and land as separate entities merely capable of ‘interactions’ limits epistemological and relational possibilities.

Love binds people to land and offers a ‘between’ space, where ecologically responsible and relationally attuned knowledges can emerge. Yet within the dominant North American culture, love for the natural world regularly leads to ostracism, ridicule, and violence. Mainstream culture does not allow for the love of rivers, old growth forests, owls, etc. when that love comes at the expense of capitalist goals. In the Americas, settler culture continues to work to destroy the love and belonging that ties Indigenous people to their ancestral land. Mainstream culture interprets this love as unnatural, unreal, and threatening. In addition to tragic ecological and humanitarian injustices, this view limits the possibilities for an urgently needed ontological shift within Western culture and the ensuing epistemological transformation.

This article articulates a relational ontology and illustrates the epistemological possibilities offered through love relationships with land by examining the author’s experience of learning to walk in the dark on a remote mountain while pregnant. Along the way, it draws on Teilhard de Chardin’s theories of love, Blenkinsop, Piersol, and Sitka-Sage’s analysis of the eco-double consciousness, and Gilligan and Snider’s assessment of relational fracturing in patriarchal society. This chapter urges a shift in the dominant North American culture to allow us to take back our right to love and be loved by the land we inhabit.

For Maxwell and for Last Chance.