Lesson 10-11: The Human Person in their Environment

Environmental Philosophy/Ethics

• a branch of philosophy that is concerned with the natural environment and humanity’s place in it.

• It deals with issues concerning humanity’s role in the world, the interaction between nature and humans, and human response to environmental challenges.

Anthropocentrism

• considers humans the most significant species on the planet, and that nature provides humankind with the means to survive and develop.

Biocentrism

• believes that humans are not only significant species on the planet, but rather, all organisms have inherent value and should be protected.

• This view drives the activities of human organizations that advocate the ethical treatment of animals.

Ecocentrism

• emphasizes great value on ecosystems and biological communities.

• This view believes that humankind is part of a greater biological system or community and that we have a significant role as stewards or guardians of nature.

Environmentalism

• This perspective advocates to address the growing environmental problems.

• Also become an issue in international politics as governments and international organizations have devoted efforts to discuss environmental issues and formulate plans to address them.

Environmental ethics

• A moral approach that analyzes the relationship between humans and the environment.

• Discusses environmental problems caused by human activities and social issues that impact the environment.

  • Serves as a basis of for reflecting on how our actions show our regard for nature.

  • Guide us in upholding the welfare of the environment and everything on it.

• Social ecology

• Applies an ecological and ethical approach in analyzing society, and sees a relationship between social problems and environmental problems.

• Climate ethics and climate justice

• Arose from the growing concern with climate change, and consider it a significant ethical, social, and political issue.

• Environmental justice

• Refers to the fair distribution of environmental benefits, as well as the burden of meeting environmental challenges.

• Advocates emphasize equity and the meaningful involvement of communities and governments in addressing environmental challenges, and planning and implementing environmental policies.

• Environmental aesthetics

• Which originally focused on concepts of beauty in nature, but has become increasingly influenced by environmental concerns.

• Concerned primarily with natural beauty in the context of maintaining order and balance in the environment.

WU WEI

• the practice of taking no action that is not in accord with the natural course of the universe.

• it means striving to make our behaviour as spontaneous and inevitable as certain natural processes, and to ensure that we are swimming with rather than against currents.

PANTHEISM

• view that the world is either identical to God or an expression of God's nature.

• It comes from 'pan' meaning all, and 'theism,' which means belief in God. So according to pantheism, “God is everything and everything is God.”

Tao Te Ching

tao, or Way/Path. The tao is both the Way of nature – the fundamental principle underlying the natural world – and the way of life that human beings should follow in order to lead a fulfilled life in harmony with the natural world

• The basic idea of the Taoists is to enable people to realize that, since human life is really only a small part of a larger process of nature, the human life which makes sense are those which are in harmony with nature