THE HUMAN PERSON IN THE ENVIRONMENT

• Philosophical questions about the world were already brought up in the Western Ionian seaport town of Miletus


  Approximately 600 B.C.E.
• Ionia was a meeting place between the East and West, so Greek philosophy may have Oriental as well as Egyptian and Babylonian influences
• In both East and West, philosophers were asking questions about the universe we live in and our place in it
• Eastern sages


  Probed nature's depths intuitively through the eyes of spiritual sages
• Greek thinkers


  Viewed nature through cognitive and scientific eyes
• Pre-Socratic philosophers


  • Represented a paradigm shift from mythical to more rational explanation of the origins of the cosmos
  • Were looking for the underlying laws of nature
  • Wanted to understand the processes by studying nature itself, not by listening to stories about the gods
  • Though not as sophisticated, represented the first intellectual and scientific attempt to understand the origins of the universe
• Anthropocentric model


  Humans are superior and central to the universe
• Ecocentric model


  The ecological or relational integrity of the humans provides meaning of our morals and values
• Concepts on nature or the environment

  • Anthropocentric model
  • Ecocentric model
• Ecological positioning occurs in the past, present, and future, and their environmental settings with regard to our identifications, relations and attachments in, about, with or for various natures
• Classrooms


  • Cannot set aside the importance of aesthetics as well as the environment that suggests valuing that include; aesthetic appreciation; enjoyment, relaxation, satisfaction, calm, peace, social interaction, growth toward holism, and self-understanding
• Every day, we experience or hear of how nature is destroyed and, thus, there are floods, flash floods, and landslides, among others
• Our limited understanding of our environment opens for a need for philosophical investigation of nature, applying aesthetic and theological dimensions, as well as appreciating our philosophical reflections with the concept of nature itself
• In the earlier chapters, we have the underlying qualities of human being as holistic and transcendental
• We should not only value the concepts of other people but consider carefully, the moral, ethical, political, cultural and ecological realities of where we are situated
• Anaximander's term "boundless"


  Nature is indeterminate - boundless in the sense that no boundaries between the warm and cold or the moist and dry regions are originally present within it
• Anaximander's sketch of the genesis of the world (cosmogony)


  1. A portion of the boundless first differentiates itself into a cold-moist mass surrounded by a roughly spherical shell of the warm-dry

  2. The warm-dry begins to evaporate the moisture of the cold-moist, forming a vaporous atmosphere

  3. The expanding vapor or steam bursts the enclosing fiery shells into rings, and rushing outward, envelopes them

  4. The opposite forces caused an imbalance that necessitated their ultimate destruction
• Pythagoras


  • 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 cosmophilia (love of other living beings)
• Chinese cosmic conception


  • 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 is nothing new under the sun; the "new" is a repetition of the old
  • Human being's happiness lies in his conformity with nature or tao; the wise, therefore, conforms with tao and is happy
• Immanuel Kant's view on beauty

  • Beauty is ultimately a symbol of morality
  • We must ignore any practical motives or inclinations and instead contemplate the object without being distracted by our desires
  • The beautiful encourage us to believe that nature and humanity are part of an even bigger design
  • The orderliness of nature and the harmony of nature with our faculties guide us toward a deeper religious perspective
• Herbert Marcuse's view


  • Humanity had dominated nature
  • There can only be change if we will change our attitude towards our perception of the environment
• George Herbert Mead's view


  • As human beings, we do not have only rights but duties
  • We are not only citizens of the community but how we react to this community and in our reaction to it, change it