Post-Secular Nature: Principles and Politics

Monist essentialism posits a worldview that has pervaded monotheistic religions and the imperatives of global capitalism. Relational pluralism acknowledges multiple perspectives and lends itself to a more ecocentric form of discourse. Monist essentialism has been associated with both religious and secular hegemony. Relational pluralism, while not advocating rootless relativism, allows for the importance of spirituality and the sacrality of nature for nature's sake. Hence, it may be deemed post-religious and post-secular. Wonder plays an important role in the adoption of a post-secular, spiritual worldview, and provides a welcome antidote to the crypto-religions of contemporary consumerism and the "god of progress." The ecocentric view must be distinguished from a facile veneration of nature, which can revert to insidious forms of anthropocentric monism or purely personal spirituality. Archaic religious paths as well as emerging disciplines such as ecological phenomenology can help lead to a re-enchantment of nature.