The Human Person in The Environment: Lesson 4

The Human Person in the
Environment
Lesson 4
Scientist also monitor the changes in our
environment. Their studies show that our world
is changing not for the better but for the worse,
ang humanity is responsible for this. But why
are these things happening to our world? How
do our actions lead to negative effects on the
environment? Should we even worry about
these changes at all, or is it safe for us to go
about our business as we usually do?
To quote the English poet John Donne, “No
man is an island, entire of itself; every man is
a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”
this means that as human persons, we
interact not only with our fellow human
beings but also with the other living and non-
living elements in our environment.
How does philosophy define the person’s
relationship with the environment?
Environmental philosophy or environmental
ethics is the discipline in philosophy that studies
the moral relationship of human beings with the
environment and non-human contents. The early
history of human kind shows that wherever
human came together to form communities, the
landscape and the environment changed.
Forests gave way to farmlands, mountains
were mined for the minerals and metals, and
rivers and lakes were transform to yield more
resources for humankind. The pattern
continues to this day.
There are three major views regarding the
relationship between humanity and the
environment. One view, anthropocentrism,
focuses on the significant role of humankind in
the world and considers nature as the means by
which humans are able to meet their needs and
survive. Biocentrism, on the other hand, believes
that humans are not the only significant species
on the planet, and that all organisms have inherit
value and should be protected. Finally
ecocentrism, places 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 steward or guardians
of nature. Several philosophical views on the
environment such as “Deep Ecology” and the
“Gaia Hypothesis”, emphasize the important role
of the interaction between the living and the non-
living components of the environment. Biologists
believe that all biological organisms interact with
each other and that each organism occupies a
significant niche within an ecosystem.
Environmental aesthetics is one
philosophical view that believes maintaining
order in the environment will bring out the
natural beauty of the surroundings and
contribute to the well-being of the people
and other organisms living in it.
How can humanity address the damage inflicted
on the environment?
One important development that arose during the
late twentieth century was environmentalism. This
perspective advocates to address the growing
environmental problems. One important
philosophical view from environmentalism is
environmental ethics. This is a moral approach that
analyzes the relationship between humans and the
environment. It serves as a basis for reflection on
how our actions show our regard for nature. It also
guides us in upholding the welfare of environment
and everything in it.
Environmental ethics has resulted in the
development of varied views:
Social ecology applies an ecological and
ethical approach in analyzing society and
sees a relationship between social problems
and environmental problems. Concepts such
as climate ethics and climate justice arose
from the growing concern with the climate
change and consider it a significant ethical,
social and political issues.
These views were greatly influenced by the concept
of environmental justice which refers to the fair
distribution of environmental benefits as well as the
burden of meting environmental challenges. Another
perspective in environmental awareness is
environmental aesthetics which originally focused on
concepts of beauty in nature but has become
increasingly influenced by environmental concerns.
Environmentalism has also become an important
issue in international politics as governments and
international organizations have devoted efforts to
discuss environmental issues and formulate plans to
address them.
One of the major concepts that drive
environmentalism is sustainability or sustainable
development. This concept focuses on reconciling
human activities and economic development with
the protection of the environment. It relies on
three important principles: environmental
integrity, economic efficiency and equity.
Environmental integrity refers to maintaining the
state of the environment. This means that human
activities should not unduly disrupt the
ecosystems and human communities located in
the area.
Economic efficiency refers to prudence in
decision-making regarding the use of resources to
ensure that there is minimum to zero waste.
Finally, equity demands that we use our natural
resources in such a manner that these are
conserved so that the next generation will be able
to use them. The values of prudence and frugality
can guide us in our own personal use of
resources. Prudence is the ability to regulate
one’s actions and behavior, while frugality id
being thrifty with the use of one’s resources.

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