MAN AND HIS

ENVIRONMENT
nHow does Philosophy define man's
relationship with the environment?
nHow do Philosophical views
influence environmental actions?
 How does Philosophy define
man's
relationship with environment?
Environmental Phychology
lThe branch of Philosophy
concerned with the natural
environment and humanity's
place within it.
ANTHROPOCENTRISM
• The belief that humans
are the central and most
significant species on the
planet.
 DEEP ECOLOGY
• Sees the natural world as
being maintained by the
interrelationship among living
organisms.
• Every living organism is
dependent on each other for
survival.
 GAIA HYPOTHESIS
• Believes that the living and
non living components of
planet interact to maintain
balance and enable life to
continue on Earth.
 How do Philosophical views
influence environmental actions?
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
• All non human have value and
should be preserved.
• The preservation of environment
is beneficial.
• Man has the responsibility to
safeguard the planet .
 SOCIAL ECOLOGY
• Ecological and ethical
approach in;
-Analyzing society
-sees social problems
-Environmental problems
 The growing concern about the
climate change inspired number of
views such as :
• Climate ethics and climate justice
-consider climate change as a significant
issue.

Environmental justice
-Refers to the fair distribution of environmental
benefits and burdens.
 ENVIRONMENTAL
AESTHETICS
• Discuss concepts of beauty in
nature.
• Maintaining the order and
balance in the environment.
Environmentalism
-Has also become an important issue in
international politics.

Significant Developments
-Signing of kyoto protocol
-Earth Day, 1970 up to present.
HUMAN PERSON
IN THE
ENVIRONMENT
What is a Human Person?
A human person is a living being that
contains a real and existing to direct its
own development toward fulfillment
through perfect, unconditional, and
infinite with love, Goodness,beauty, and
unity, and will do so if all the proper
conditions are met.
 ENVIRONMENT
The sum total of all sorroundings of
a living organism, including natural
forces and other living things,
which provide condition
development an growth as well as
of danger and damage.
• What is the world made of?
• How Did the world come into being?
• How can we explain the process of
change?

Those are philosophical questions brought

up approximately 600 BCE in the western
Ionion seaport town of miletus across the
aegan sea from Athens, Greece.
The speculation of the pre-Socratic philosophers represent
a Paradigm shift a change from mythical explanation of the
origins of the cosmos to a
more rational explanation.
Eastern sages probed nature's depths intuitively through
the eyes of spiritual sages which greek thinker viewed
nature trough cognitive and scientific eyes (Prince 2000)
This thinkers were looking for the underlying laws of
nature.They wanted to understand the processes of nature
by studying nature by studying nature itself, not by listening
to thenot by listening to the stories about the Gods.
According to Payne (2010) there are two frameworks
where humans can be related.
 1. Anthropocentric Model
• Based on the anthropocentric
model, humans are superior and
central to the universe, thus it is
human centered. -Human-
Culture-Mind-Calculative-Human
over/ against Environments-
Global/Technological
Anthropocentric Model-The
dominant of humanity is linked to
the domination of nature based on
the anthropocentric Model.
Sometimes, humans adopt an
exploitive attitude whenever nature
is merely considered as an
instrument for one's profit or gain.
 Ecocentric model
Ecocentric model, the ecological or relational integrity
of the humans provides meaning of our morals and
values and it is nature centered.Devoted to preserving
the totality of earth's biodiversity and the functioning of
it's life supporting system.
-Nature -Wild
-Holism -Body
-Relational -Earth/wisdom
-Ecology over/ against humans.
Econcentric model There are
three theories about the
Ecocentric model such as:
- Deep ecology
-Social Ecology
-ecofeminism
 Deep Ecology
Is an ecological philosophy developed by
Norwegian philosophers Ame Naess in the
early 1970's asserting that all life forms
have an equal right to exist , and human
needs and desires have no priority over
those of other organisms. Believes that the
living environment should be respected
and regarded as having rights to flourish,
independent of its utility to humans.
 Social Ecology
It is a critical social theory founded by
American anarhist and libertarian
socialist author Murray Bookchin.
Conceptualized as a critique of current
social, political, and anti- ecological
trends, it espouses a reconstructive,
ecological, communitarian, and ethical
approach to society.
 Ecofeminism
It is also called ecological feminism, brach of feminism that
examines the connections between women and nature. Its
name was coined by French feminist Francoise
d'Eaubonne in 1974
A philosophical idea that combines Feminism and ecology
concerns, emphasizing that both suffer from their treatment
by a male dominated society. Comes from the idea that
women and nature have significant connection, since
women most often have a close association with nature in
many societies due to the nature of their traditional roles.
 Anaximander
A pre- socratic philosopher and
scientist said about the creation
destruction according to him, the
sketch of the genesis of the world
(cosmology) the evolution of the
world begins with the generation of
opposites in a certain region Nature.
While according to Pythagoras,
universe is a living embodiment of
nature's order, harmony and beauty.
He sees our relationship with the
universe involving
biophilia (love of other living things)
and Cosmophilia (love of other living
beings.)
For Modern Thinker , Immanuel
Kant beauty is ultimately a symbol
of morality (goodness). He
believes that the orderliness of
nature and the harmony of nature
with our faculties guide us toward
a deeper religious perspective.
OUR ENVIRONMENT IS
CREATED FOR EVERY
HUMAN, SO YOU AS GOOD
AS ONE BEING MUST TAKE
GOOD CARE OF NATURE!
REMEMBER LIFE IS ALL
ABOUT BALANCE
– Immanuel Kant
Continuation of The
Human Person in the
Environment
Ancient Thinkers
 Anaximander
Early Greek philosophers, the Milesians, regarded Nature as
spatially without boundaries, that is, as infinite or indefinite in
extent.
Employed the term "boundless" to convey the further thought
that Nature is indeterminate.
Nature is boundless in the that no boundaries between cold,
warm, moist, and dry regions are originally present within
it(Solomon & Higgins 2010).
Creation and Destruction.
According to Anaximander's sketch of the genesis of the
world(cosmogony), the evolution of the world begins the
generation of opposites in a certain region of Nature: a
portion of the boundless first differentiates itself into a
cold-moist mass surrounded by q roughly spherical shell
of the warm-dry. Once the warm-dry has been separated
out, surrounding the cold-moist, it begins to evaporate
the moisture of the latter, and this process forms
vaporous atmosphere. Eventually, the expanding vapor or
stream bursts the enclosing fiery shells into rings, and
rushing outward, envelopes them. The opposite forces
caused an imbalance that necessitated their ultimate
destruction (Price 2000).
What appear to us as heavenly bodies
are in reality parts of the fiery rings that
we glimpse through openings left in their
streamy, vaporous envelopes. The
revolution of the stars, sun, and moon
around the central earth is in reality the
rotation of the vapor-enveloped rings of
fire.
 Phythagoras
• Described the universe as living embodiment of
Nature's order, harmony, and beauty.
• Sees our relationship with the universe involving
biophilia(love of other living things) and
cosmophila(love of other living beings).
• Considered the early him as an Ecologist
 The Chinese cosmic conception, on the other
hand, is based on the assumption that all that
happens in the universe is a continuous whole like a
chain of natural consequences. All events in the
universe follow a transitional process due to the
primeval pair, the yang and the yin. The universe
does not proceed onward but revolves without
beginning or end. There os nothing new under the
sun: the "new" is a repetition of the old(Quito 1991)
. Human being's happiness lies in his conformity
with nature or tao: the wise, therefore: conforms
with tao and is happy.
Modern Thinkers
 Immanuel Kant
In his third critique, Critique of the Judgement, Kant expresses
that Beauty is ultimately a symbol of morality(Kant 1997).
According to Kant, we must ignore any practical motives or
inclination that we have and instead contemplate the object
without being distracted by our desires(Goldblatt and Brown
2010).
The beautiful encourage us that the nature and humanity are part
of even a bigger design. This sense of order in a beautiful object
is not translatable into formula or recipe. Rather, the concept of
the larger design, the belief in ultimate goal in which every aspect
of sensible world has its place in a larger purpose, draws our
thought to a supersensible reality.
 Ultimately, Kant believes that orderliness of
nature and the harmony of nature with the
faculties guide us toward a deeper religious
perspective. The vision of the world is not
limited to knowledge and freedom or even
faith, in the ordinary sense of term. It is a
sense of cosmic harmony.
 Herbert Marcuse and George
Herbert Mead
• Understanding our relationship with the
environment can also refer to the human
beings with the ecology and nature. For
Herbert Marcuse, humanity had dominated
nature. There can only be change if we will
change our attitude towards our perception of
the environment. Moreover, for Mead, as
human beings, we do not have the rights but
duties. We are not only citizens of our
community but how we react to this
community and in our reaction to it, change it.
Consider this American Indian Prayer(Gallagher 1996)

O great spirit, whose voice i heard in the winds

And whose breath gives life to the world, hear me
I come to you as one of your many children...
I am small and weak. I need your strength and your
wisdom.
May I walk in beauty.
Make my hands respect the things you have made.
Make my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may know the things you have.
Thought your children...
The lessons you have hidden in every leaf
and rock...
Make me strong so that I may not be superior
to other people,
But be able to fight my greatest enemy; which
is myself.
Make me ever ready to come to you with
straight eyes
So taht, when life fades like a fading sunset
I may come to you without shame.
 Theories to show care for environment
A. Deep Ecology- ecological crisis is an outcome of
anthropocentrism. The controlling attitude of humankind is
extended to nature, when in fact, humanity is part of nature.
Deep Ecologist encourage the humanity to shift away the
anthropocentrism to ecocentrism.
B. Social Ecology- ecological crisis results from authoritarian
structures. Destroying the nature is the reflection wherein few
people overpowers others while exploiting the environment for
profit or self-interest. Social Ecologist call for small-scale
societies, which recognize the humanity is linked with well-being
of the natural world in which human life depends.
C. Ecofeminism- this theory argues that the ecological
crisis is a consequences of male dominance. In this
view whatever is "superior" is entitled to whatever is
"inferior". Male traits as in the anthropocentric model
are superior as opposed to female traits as in the
ecocentric mode. Domination works by forcing the
others to conform to what is superior. For the
adherents of this view, freeing nature and humanity
means removing the superior vs. inferior in human
relations.
 Erich Fromm
A German humanistic philosopher
• Believes that it's about time that humanity ought to
recognize not only itself but also the world around it.
For Fromm, as human beings, our biblical urge for
survival turns into selfishness and laziness.
• Proposed a new society that should encourage the
emergence of new human being that will foster
prudence and moderation of frugality toward
environment.
Some of the functions of Fromm envisioned society

1. The willingness to give up all forms of having, in order to

fully be.
2. Being fully present where one is.
3. Trying to reduce greed, hate, and illusions as much as
one is capable.
4. Making the full growth of oneself an of one's fellow being
as the supreme goal of living.
5. Not deceiving others, but also not being deceived by
others; one may called innocent but not naive.
6. Freedom that is not arbitrariness but he possibility to be
oneself, not as a bundle of greedy desires, but as a
delicately balanced structure that at any moment is
confronted with the alternative of growth or decay, life or
death.
7. Happiness is the process of ever-growing aliveness,
whatever the furthest point is that faith permits one to reach,
for living as fully as one can ne satisfactory that the concern
for what one might or might not attain jas little chance to
develop.
8. Joy that comes from giving and sharing, not from
hoarding and exploiting.
9. Developing one's capacity for love, together with one's
capacity for critical, unsentimental thoughts.
10. Shedding one's narcissicm and accepting that
tragic limitations inherent in human existence.

The ideal of this society cross all party lines; for

protecting nature needs focused conservation, action,
political will, and support from industry. If all of these
sectors agree on the same goals, the possibility of
change would seem to he considerably greater,
especially since most citizens have become less and
less in party loyalty and slogans.
MERTO,CHAREA MARIE
CAMPILAN,CHEMBER GRACE L.
GRADE12 STEM-PLATINUM
PHILOSOPHY