Situatedness in Landscape Sustainability.

In this paper, I claim that some hermeneutical concepts developed by Hans-Georg Gadamer might help us elaborate a philosophical understanding of a landscape’s sustainability. In particular, the notion of “situatedness” as the intrinsic finitude of human beings located in a spatial-temporal context is conceived as a productive element by Gadamer. After having recalled the meaning of this notion in Gadamer’s thought, I will show how it can provide a valuable contribution, firstly, to the critique of an idea of sustainability as a mere “musealization” of exceptional places, whose counterpart is the exploitation of places considered aesthetically insignificant. Secondly, I will highlight the potentialities of situatedness for the formulation of an approach that takes into account, on the one hand, the relationality that characterizes the relationship between humans and landscape in a way that contrasts a dualistic conception, and, on the other hand, the radical historicity of every specific landscape as well as our approach to landscape that evolves throughout history. Against mere appropriation and, on the opposite, contemplation, the concept of situatedness may enable us to highlight an immersive and participatory approach to landscapes, recalling the responsibility towards the places that we inhabit and visit.