Published: 2025-12-31

On the Banks of the Rivers of Eden: The Pedagogy of the “First Earthling’s” Ecosystem

Michał Paluch Logo ORCID
Section: Paidia - the element of childhood
https://doi.org/10.31261/PiL.2025.07.12

Abstract

This article highlights the aquatic dimension of Eden as the primordial ecosystem of creation and the environment for the (self-)formation of the “first human” (Hebrew: הָאָדָם, hā-’ādām). It examines the process of anthropogenesis as it unfolds alongside the progressive irrigation of the earth (אֲדָמָה, ’ǎdāmāh) and the transformation of desert dust (‘āpār) into a living being. The subject of the study is the process of human (self-)formation against the backdrop of the world’s unfolding. The culminating moment of this process – experienced on the riverbank – is the “first human’s” sense of concern for the world emerging around him, thereby constituting him as a being in the image of God. Hence, the research question is as follows: what constitutes the impulse of human (self-)formation that arrives at the banks of the rivers of Eden following an ontogenetic trajectory through desert and oasis environments? These reflections unfold within the theoretical framework of forest pedagogy, adequate anthropology, and philosophical hermeneutics. This approach aligns with the post-anthropocentric premises of sumbiography, which documents accumulated, life-course experiences of intensified human–nature contact, oriented toward balanced coexistence rather than asymmetrical conflict. The main research method is the exegesis of selected passages from the Book of Genesis (Gen 2:5–10) – understood as a critical analysis and interpretative recontextualization of the historical text.

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Paluch, M. (2025). On the Banks of the Rivers of Eden: The Pedagogy of the “First Earthling’s” Ecosystem. Paidia and Literature, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.31261/PiL.2025.07.12

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Domyślna okładka

2025
Published: 2025-01-01


eISSN: 2719-4167
Ikona DOI 10.31261/PiL

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Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego | University of Silesia Press

Licence CC Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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