Substantial protection of the environment and the earth through the concept of dwelling in Heidegger’s thought

We interact with our environment depends on our understanding and attitude it. This interaction can be based on relational hegemonic subjective view between human, the environment and the creatures, as we see in modern thought, a relation which is the underlying cause of creation and aggravation of contemporary environmental crisis. In contrary, another relation can be considered according to which human, confronting the world, does not intend to dominate the world and the environment but possesses a relation based on familiarity and kinship to the world, the nature, and environment. Among contemporary thinkers, Heidegger’s thought refers to a relation to the environment based on which environmental crisis can be overcome. His thought endows rational credit to the issues in this area. It is shown in this article that Heidegger’s thought about the reality of the existence and the dwelling can change our view to human’s relation to himself, the world, and his understanding of each of them. Therefore, based on the concept of dwelling and referring to the meaning of the earth and the nature in his thought, it is examined another way of the confrontation of human and the environment and the earth, a way based on the nature of dwelling according to which human has a relation to them in the position of a maintainer and inheritor of the earth and creatures.