當代生態批評論述，在基於自然(相對於人的外在世界)正步步惡化的前提下，重新思考人的位置，包括環境危機的根本原因與適切的解決之道。然而，當生態評論者，對於「何謂自然存有」的觀念，給予程度不同的重視，「自然」的定義在生態論述中變得歧異而模稜：一方面，任何生物或自然環境被等同於它所佔有的空間；另一方面，所謂的空間性，只能夠作為其存在的指標。這種定義上的歧異性，在當前後現代的思維脈絡中，愈益明顯：在普遍對於聲稱「自然的」論述多所存疑時，任何對於「何謂自然存有」的討論，容易落入是否為本質主義與知識霸權的辯論。本篇論文，在回顧分析當代生態評論的潛在的歧異與討論的走向後，針對兩種主要的存在論述做比較，並進一步爬梳出歧異的根本原因──「視覺」在人與自然關係中的位置。本篇論文，在意識到自然定義的歧異性下，一方面希冀得以喚起生態批評論述對自然定義歧異性的重視；另一方面，也希冀能有更多對於視覺所隱含的存有觀對於自然環境所造成的影響之研究。 ;With the substantive belief that nature (the material world) is deteriorating from its original circumstance to the terminal catastrophe, contemporary ecocritical discourses investigate the factors for such degrading situation and explore any possible solutions. These two ways, though seemingly distinct, are in truth re-defining the place of humans in the world. As a result, when the concern about the role of human beings diverts the attention from the concern about the exact definition of the material world, what counts as the being of the material world becomes ambiguous: the being on the one hand is equalized with the occupancy of space; on the other hand, the spatial contour is only a visual presence of the being. Furthermore, this ambiguity in terms of ontological status of the material world is further aggravated when the current academic realm is dominated by the debates over the nature of knowledge: in the context of the disbelief in “the natural,” any proposal about the material world in terms of its ontological status is vulnerable to be criticized as naively naturalistic or blindly monopolistic in light of the knowledge of the material world. Beginning with this problematic in the current ecocritical discourses, this thesis is devoted to the incipient comparisons of the premises underlying the ambiguous ontological contentions and to the inductive suggestion of the determinant of such ambiguity—the role of vision. With the awareness of the ambiguity of nature’s ontological status, this thesis aims not only to raise the awareness of what counts as the being of a natural entity, but also intends to pave the way for exploring the impact of the ontological implication of sight on the material world.
