Environmental end game: ontos

Abstract

In this paper, we attempt to do a kind of theorizing that we think is compatible with new materialisms. To do this we explore the idea of what it might be to separate ontos- from -logos, and give suggestions to readers for ways of experiencing this idea. We posit that it is not only possible to make diffractive readings and re-readings of texts, but also that experiences themselves can provide a diffractive context for ontos. Thus, not only can different concepts held in the forefront of our minds allow us to encounter, interpret, and understand differently but so too can positioning and entangling ourselves differently. As such we will ask the reader to do things beyond simply reading the text as they engage this paper. We also tell stories, two from an Anishinaabe knowledge keeper of Chris’s acquaintance, to provide another way for shifting conceptualizing towards a different ontological position compatible with an immanent materialist position. We explore the capacity of words to tell a story about experiences that are inherently non-verbal, in which human I-ness shares a being state with what are normally thought to be separable objects in the natural world. The paper concludes with a short discussion of pedagogy in light of this discussion/action.