Abstract
A prominent strand of research in Critical Plant Studies (CPS) draws on findings in plant neurobiology, mobilizing plants' intelligence and consciousness as a basis for their moral consideration. However, this moral extensionist approach has considerable limitations, as it struggles with risks of anthropocentrism and hyperindividualism. Other authors in CPS advocate for a more relational approach, emphasizing the relation itself, rather than the individual properties of the relata. While a step in the right direction, these approaches would benefit from insights in Japanese philosophy. The non-dualist, relational ontological and ethical frameworks of Japanese philosophy allow us to conceptualize plant-human relations in new ways, and offer a more robust foundation for relational plant ethics. Through a critical comparative analysis of the different approaches to plant ethics in CPS, and a thorough exploration of Japanese environmental philosophy and traditions of thought, this research seeks to open up a dialogue between Japanese environmental thought and critical plant studies. The aim is to capture in what ways Japanese philosophy can offer an alternative to a moral extensionist approach, overcoming its limitations, and can enter into fruitful dialogue with the relational and care-based approaches to plant ethics in CPS.
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