Starting from an image of nature used by Karl Löwith in a letter from
1923 to Martin Heidegger indicating a problem of anthropo- and physiocentrism,
the present paper focuses on the Löwithian category of Naturwelt. This term,
here translated as “nature-world” (italian: mondo-natura), has been used by Löwith
throughout his Denkweg to indicate a natural dimension that has particular
philosophical-semantic features comparing to “world” and “nature”, respectively.
With regard to the compound Naturwelt, this essay aims to: a) reconstruct some
relevant moments in the history of this concept between Kantian cosmology and
phenomenology; b) analyse its particular semantic-philosophical use by Löwith;
c) work out the precise relationship between Naturwelt and an original Löwithian
interpretation of the phenomenological concept of the world as Inbegriff. By aligning
with the ambiguous – and therefore philosophically fruitful – paradigmatic concept
of Naturwelt, this paper outlines further productive Löwithian oscillations of
the concept of nature-world as whole/part, as container/content, as place/character.
In conclusion, a marked congruence of the category of Naturwelt with regard to
today´s holistic approach in philosophy of nature and ecological ethics is indicated.