This essay avers a relatively narrow claim. This is that the theosemiotic project of Michael Raposa is an ideal vehicle for addressing a concern about the integral ecology of Pope Francis, which is that one of integral ecology's signature phrases, the “cry of the Earth,” is insufficiently clear on how humans can understand, respect, and respond to the agency of non-human nature. This claim exists alongside another, broader claim, which at present is only suggested, but which bears mentioning as part of the context in which the narrow claim can be seen to matter. The broad claim is that to demonstrate this narrow claim is also to point to a pragmatist methodology for theological ethics.
These two claims are linked in several ways. It is evident from Raposa's self-descriptions of theosemiotic, for example, that his project should be identified as pragmatist, even if its influences extend beyond pragmatism. As for...
