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Listening as Law
Explores deep listening as a cognitive and ethical capacity essential to coherence.
The Ethics of Sound, Silence, and Obligation in Indigenous Cosmology
Research Focus
We challenge the Western perception of listening as a mere sensory or interpretative act. Drawing on Indigenous cosmology, we argue that listening is actually a foundational law and an ethical obligation that exists before speech or meaning. Central to this argument is the concept of Dadirri, or deep listening, which is presented as a disciplined form of patience, restraint, and responsibility toward a living world. The text incorporates the teachings of Aboriginal elders and scholars to demonstrate how sound and silence serve as vital carriers of ancestral continuity and multispecies care. Ultimately, the work redefines aesthetics and phenomenology not as individual experiences, but as active modes of custodianship essential for sustaining the world.
