Schroeder , H.W., 2007, Place experience, gestalt, and the human–nature relationship., in: Journal of Environmental Psychology, 27, 3
- Author : Schroeder , H.W.
- Year : 2007
- Title English : Place experience, gestalt, and the human–nature relationship.
- Journal/Series : Journal of Environmental Psychology
- Volume Number (ANNUAL: Counting Volumes of the Year shown above) : 3
- Volume Number (CONSECUTIVE: Counting all Volumes of this Journal ever published) : 27
- Pages : 293-309
- Abstract in English : In this paper, the author explores how ideas about humans being “part of” or “apart from” nature relate to people's experiences of the places and environments they encounter in their lives. In debates over environmental ethics and management these two contrasting ideas often appear as dichotomously opposed statements about the character of the human–nature relationship. He first describes how ideas of humans being “part of” versus “apart from” nature have appeared in discussions of environmental ethics and management, and suggests how these contrasting views might relate to people's actual experiences of the natural and human aspects of places. Using qualitative survey responses about outdoor places in the midwestern USA to illustrate ideas from phenomenological and gestalt psychology, I show how a sense of the human–nature relationship is conveyed in the gestalt qualities of places and how this may give rise to a feeling of moral responsibility toward nature. The author has tried to show how Fuller's (1990) phenomenological account of gestalt psychology can be applied to understanding the experience of natural places and environments. A special place—one with a strong “sense of place”—may be understood as a place whose constituent features and qualities form a good gestalt for the people who visit or live there. The specialness of such a place is a function of its intrinsic requiredness, the way in which its parts relate to each other with a sense of rightness, coherence, and harmony. It is concluded that the experience of human and natural aspects of real places points toward a dialectical view of the human–nature relationship, in which humans can be seen as simultaneously “part of” and “apart from” nature.