Irina Salmi

This theoretical paper aims to develop an ecological approach to education based on a framework for human-nature connection called the life-sustenance hypothesis. Human-nature connection has been shown to affect well-being, prosociality, and pro-environmental inclinations. Thus, enhancing nature connectedness in education could potentially have far-reaching consequences for future citizens’ well-being, decision-making, and resilience when facing the polycrisis ahead of them. The life-sustenance hypothesis is based on the philosophical system of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), combined with contemporary scientific research and theoretical underpinnings. The hypothesis suggests that experiences of nature connectedness and altruistic impulses derive from a shared ground—the life-sustaining orientation—which protects surrounding life simultaneously with a self-sustaining orientation. The life-sustenance hypothesis further suggests, that in modern Western humans, an imbalance between these orientations has caused several challenges in the personal, societal, and environmental arenas. In this paper, the means by which to unlearn the excessive dominance of the individualistic, self-sustaining orientation are explored. Inspirational guidelines are offered to implement situation-sensitive ‘nature-connective educational architecting’, including, for example, adding natural elements and simulations of nature to the surroundings; providing opportunities for feelings of compassion and discouraging competition; and suggesting what to pay attention to when the educated are given regular opportunities to spend time in nature. Many of these means are already in use in environmental education. Here, the aim is to bring them together and provide a coherent theoretical explanation for why they are useful, and how to implement them influentially in education toward more sustainable manners of being.

This paper develops the life-sustenance hypothesis to explain the multifaceted phenomenon of the human-nature connection. It is based on an interpretation of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s philosophy brought into contemporary times via recent multidisciplinary research and theoretical underpinnings. Rousseau suggested that humans have two innate, instinctive drives he called amour-de-soi and pitié—a self-preservative drive, and its enlargement, an inclination to help other living beings in distress. The life-sustenance hypothesis is rooted in a systems biological framework situating humans as interconnected parts within a nested system of life. Corresponding to Rousseau’s drives, this interconnectedness is suggested to give rise to the dynamics between two life-preserving orientations that guide our manners-of-being in the world: a self-sustaining and a ‘life-sustaining’ orientation shared by all organisms, albeit manifested differently. The experience of nature connectedness, along with altruistic impulses, are proposed to be human manifestations of the life-sustaining orientation. Moreover, in line with Rousseau’s philosophy, it is posited that the modern, individualistic lifestyle has given rise to an imbalance between these orientations leading to problems in prosociality, proenvironmentalism, and overall well-being. One means by which to regain balanced manners-of-being might be to enhance our nature connectedness. Possible physiological indicators for the hypothesis are explored.

In environmental sciences, research on psychological and physical human-nature connection has recently expanded, revealing a diverse phenomenon associated with well-being, prosociality, and pro-environmentality. This paper argues that in his time, Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) described a similar phenomenon with similar consequences, explaining its origin and importance in a nuanced manner that is able to bring new insights to the current theoretical frameworks on human-nature connection. In this paper, an interpretation of Rousseau’s philosophy with a systems approach is presented. Furthermore, by integrating it with temporary philosophy of systems biology and other relevant underpinnings, a framework for nature connectedness called the life-sustenance hypothesis is advanced, suggesting that all organisms are guided by two fundamental, parallel orientations: A self-sustaining orientation for self-preservative purposes and a life-sustaining orientation for sustaining surrounding life. Rousseau did not speak in these terms, but referred to different ‘manners-of-being’, the dynamics of which can be described with his central terms, amour-de-soi, amour-propre, and pitié. He suggested that the modern, individualistic lifestyle has introduced an excessive imbalance in these manners-of-beings, with harmful consequences on our well-being and the way we treat other beings. One possible solution Rousseau explored to resolve this imbalance—along with the political, educational, and domestic ones—was restoring personal inner peace, ‘harmony with Nature’. The experience of harmony, I suggest, greatly resembles the immersive psychological nature connectedness depicted by contemporary research. Rousseau’s system of thought is able to bring clarity into why we experience nature connectedness, and why it affects us the way it does.

In this article, we theoretically explore the role of biophilia for morality, challenging and expanding recent moral psychological models that struggle to account for this relationship. We conceptualize the psychological trait of Nature Relatedness as a comprehensive biophilic orientation or mode of being that enables individuals to integrate nature into their identity and informs their interactions with both natural and social environments. By synthesizing theories of Erich Fromm and Arne Næss with recent research, we claim that biophilic orientation involves not only the transition from a narrow to an ecological self, but also encompasses worldviews, values, and experiences. We develop the idea that dispositional aspects of biophilia and affective-experiential levels of morality interact: Biophilic disposition is both driven by and drives self-transcendent experiences and affect-laden engagements that foster self-other overlap, possibly expanding one’s moral concern. We connect these ideas to moral psychological research on moral intuitions and identity, particularly by discussing Nature Relatedness in relation to Jonathan Haidt’s Moral Foundations Theory. One’s subjective relationship and identification with the natural world appear central to moral expansion. Besides extending concern to non-human individuals, parochial, group-cohesion-related moral emotions might be re-channeled. These binding foundations appear generally resistant to moral expansion, yet the biophilic drive to integrate and unite may broaden one’s identification beyond human ingroups. Thus, we propose that Nature Relatedness may expand moral intuitions across foundations, outlining what a non-anthropocentric application of moral foundations and biocentric intuitions might look like. Implications, including prospective interventions, and the need for further research, are discussed.