Philosophie de la Nature et écophénoménologie

Contemporary ecology and phenomenology share a critical impulse to move beyond the dualism between human beings and the world. Mikel Dufrenne’s work participates in this effort by positing Nature as the originary ground preceding both subject and object. Through the human being’s affec­tive and sensible affinity with the world, this anterior and difficult-to-conceive Nature is disclosed as the common source of both poles. Dufrenne not only theorizes this ontological background, but also sees in it the foundation for a transformation of our ethical and aesthetic relation to nature. His concept of “affinity” plays a pivotal role in articulating an ecophenomenology capable of overcoming ontological dualism without abandoning phenomenological rigor. However, Dufrenne’s speculative move toward a Nature conceived as infinite and inexhaustible raises important questions in light of contemporary ecological thought. Can a philosophy grounded in an unbounded generative power respond adequately to the finitude of ecological systems and the plan­etary limits we now confront? This article revisits Dufrenne’s philosophy of Nature in order to assess its relevance—and its limits—for an ecophenome­nology attuned to both ontological depth and ecological urgency.