The Human Person And His Environment .docx

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person School Year 2018 – 2019 ________________________

THE HUMAN PERSON AND HIS ENVIRONMENT

Discussion and Analysis Heraclitus, a Western philosopher in the ancient period once argued that the world is in constant change. For him, the world involves an ongoing process governed by the law of change (“Heraclitus,” 1995). This simply means that everything in this world is continuously flowing and moving in some respect. As we can see, the same principle holds true to our environment. Many of us may not notice it, but our environment undergoes an unending process of transformation. This is manifested by the rapid growth and developments in our society, which have made our lives easy and more convenient. Take, for instance, the creation of mobile phones and electronic gadgets, infrastructure projects, building of tall edifice and establishments, concreting of farm to market roads, creation of cellular phones and mobile gadgets, production of cars and other vehicles. Indeed, these things gave us leisure and allowed us to do things easier. Thus, at first glance, this constant change, as Heraclitus views it, works for the benefit of humanity. Various rapid changes continue in the advent of economic globalization. For example, as I have already hinted above, for over a decade we have seen the rising of tall buildings and business establishments, the booming real estate businesses and the growing numbers of food chains, coffee shops and entertainments hubs in the urban areas. These developments prove how far we have gone through in improving and developing our life as human persons. Yet along these developments are the different environmental issues that pose a threat to our lives as human persons. It is then important that we have to be aware of these environmental risks, their causes and their harmful effects to us so that we will be able to address these issues properly. Let me now briefly discuss the common environmental problems that have seriously impacted our lives as human beings. Here, I will specifically show that these environmental issues stemmed from our careless decisions and actions towards our environment. These environmental problems include

air pollution, water pollution, acid rain, climate change, deforestation, depletion of natural resources, depletion of ozone layer, waste pollution, acidification and increase in sea/ocean temperature, and overpopulation.

Different Environmental Problems and their Impacts on Human Lives

Let me begin with air pollution. Air pollution refers to the contamination of the air in the atmosphere, which is primarily caused by harmful gases and toxins released from the smoke of the industrial factories and the combustion of fossil fuels from our private cars and vehicles, public transportations facilities, and agricultural machineries (Veetil, 2012). Moreover, the burning of fossil fuels like petroleum and coal products from our power plants, the use of insecticides, pesticides and fertilizers, the release of gases from the household cleaning products and the emissions from gas stoves contribute to air pollution (Veetil, 2012).

Indeed, air pollution has harmful effects on our health, especially to children. In fact, according to the World Health Organization (2017), over three billions of people all over the world are exposed to household air pollution due to the use of solid fuels, such as charcoals, paper and dried leaves. Based on the WHO data, air pollution causes approximately 600,000 deaths in children under five years old annually. Air pollution also increases the risk of respiratory infections, asthma, adverse neonatal conditions and congenital abnormalities (World Health Organization, 2017). According to the WHO, most of these illnesses are acquired from household air pollution (for example, exposure to smoke from cook stoves), ambient air pollution and second-hand tobacco smoke. For these reasons, the WHO considers air pollution as one of the leading causes of peoples’ death globally.

Water Pollution is another environmental problem that is caused by oil spill, acid rain and other hazardous chemicals that mixed with water (SEPA, 2012). According to the World Health Organization (2017), contamination in waters causes various diseases in human persons, particularly to children. Furthermore, the WHO (2017) noted that

diarrhea, which is caused by the use of unsafe water, improper hygiene and poor sanitation, is one of the main contributors to the death rate of children all over the world.

Acid rain is also considered as one of the common environmental problems we are facing today. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA), acid rain occurs when the harmful gases like nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides are released into the atmosphere through burning of fossil fuels and combustion of vehicle engines. When it rains, these harmful gases mixed with rainwater droplets which cause heavy damage to plants, animals and humans (US-EPA, 2017).

Moreover, climate change is one of the most trending or mostly discussed environmental issues today. Climate change refers to an increase in the average global temperatures. The excessive increase of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, contributes largely in climate change. According to NASA’s Earth Observatory, different human activities have caused imbalance in the natural cycle of the greenhouse effects as well as disastrous and deadly calamities, such as extreme cold winters, heavy rains, stronger storms and El Nino and La Nina phenomena. It is believed that climate change is caused by human activity and its consequences are harmful to humans as well as to nature (Joshua Reichert, 2009).

According to Greenpeace (2007), an independent international organization campaigning for environmental protection and preservation, climate change is triggered by global warming, which is usually unnoticeable in our daily lives. However, according to the report of Greenpeace (2007), we will know that climate change takes place when some species are slowly becoming extinct, as well as the increase in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, recurrence of stronger typhoons, increase in level of rain precipitation and the steady rise of sea levels. In fact, in 2009, the National Geographic has recorded the melting of Antarctic ice and the recession of Arctic glaciers at speed much faster than scientists have predicted in the past years (Glick, 2006). Likewise, the World Meteorological Organization report in 2007 has recorded the year 2005 as one of the warmest years since the 1980s, followed by years 1998, 2002,

2003 and 2004; while the 1990s was recorded as the hottest decade in history (Climate Central, 2016). However, in December 2014, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Climate Data Center noted that the year 2014 was the warmest year ever recorded in history (State of the Climate: Global Analysis for Annual, 2014). NOAA noted that since 1880, global temperatures have warmed significantly.

Another most obvious problem in our environment lately is Deforestation. This environmental problem refers to the cutting of trees for agricultural, industrial, housing or urban use. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (2015), a total of 129 million hectares of forest have been lost since 1990. Now, deforestation created by humans contributes to various environmental risks that become harmful to humans, animals and other living creatures. In particular, it creates climate imbalance, soil erosion, extinction of wildlife animals, flashfloods, and increases global warming. In the Philippines, most of the landslide prone areas now have history of deforestation.

The constant Depletion of natural resources is another environmental risk that we are facing lately. As we all know, natural resources are very important for the survival and welfare of all living beings, especially humans. In fact, we are so much dependent on the resources we have found in nature. However, because of the society’s advancements brought about by social and cultural revolutions, increase in global population, high consumption of resources, as well as modernization and economic globalization activities, our natural resources are depleting little by little. If this problem continues, it would threaten the survival of the next generation. Thus, there is a need for us to be economical and at the same responsible in taking advantage of our natural resources.

The Depletion of our Ozone Layer is also a seemingly unnoticed environmental problem. Yet, experts have noted that the depletion of the ozone layer is one of the most serious

problems

that

our

planet

earth

is

facing

today.

It

is

said

that

Hydrochlofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are the major chemicals that contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer (US-EPA, 2017). HCFCs and VOCs are commonly found in the emission of vehicles, industrial by-products, aerosols

and refrigerants mostly used in our households. HCFCs and VOCs stay in the atmosphere for a longer period of time and have a very high warming effect. Because of their severe warming effect, HCFCs and VOCs cause damage to the ozone layer (USEPA, 2017).

Another serious environmental problem that continues to haunt as today is Waste Pollution. Waste pollution is common in urban and densely populated areas. These wastes are usually in solid form which cause land, air and water pollutions if not properly disposed. Some experts agree that the increase in quantity of solid waste is due to overpopulation,

lack

of

education

on

waste

management

and

technological

advancement. Because of this, mismanagement of waste or improper waste disposal causes hazards to human and non-human health as well as in our environment. In fact, most of the epidemic outbreaks such as dengue, malaria, diarrhea and other airborne diseases in our society are mainly caused by waste pollution.

Another unnoticed environmental problem we have today are the Acidification and Increase in Sea/Ocean Temperature. The rapid increase in sea level and ocean temperature are attributed to climate change and global warming because of the melting of sea-ice and land-based glaciers. Also, the acidification of sea waters, according to experts on marine ecosystem, was credited to excessive amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) component in the ocean (Greenpeace Report, 2013). Carbon dioxide is produced by human, animals and the burning of fossil fuels. The increase in the acidity of our sea waters and higher sea levels poses a danger to the livelihood and lives of the large number of people living in the coastal areas. This is because those who are living in the coastal areas will be vulnerable to storm surge and tsunami. Moreover, the acidification of our waters resulted in the depletion of marine resources and destruction of marine ecosystem.

Lastly, it is worthwhile to consider here the problem of Overpopulation. We can say that most of the environmental risks mentioned above have both direct and indirect connection to overpopulation. As of today, there are around 7 billion people living on the planet, and

experts said that these numbers will balloon to between 8 and 11 billion by 2050 and up to 15 billion by 2100 (“Causes of Human Overpopulation”, 2013). The explosion in global population is partly caused by early marriages, lack of knowledge in birth control and family planning methods, and social pressures. Obviously, the problem of overpopulation may give way to the rise of other environment problems, such as pollution, depletion of natural resources, shortages of clean water, fuel and food.

The above discussion proved that environmental problems pose a serious threat in our day to day lives. As we can see, these environmental risks have caused respiratory illnesses, cancer, congenital abnormalities and other deadly diseases to both adults and children globally. Moreover, these environmental problems have resulted in the extinction of land and marine resources. They also poisoned our food and water supplies, as well as caused erosions and flashfloods, loss of billions of properties, and deaths of thousands to millions of people all over the world. In particular, the Philippines, which is considered as a developing country, has experienced the ill effects of these environmental problems. Since the 1990s, we have encountered damaging catastrophes that left thousands of families homeless. These environmental problems have also damaged billions of properties, destroyed infrastructure, agricultural and livelihood facilities, and killed thousands of Filipino people.

Despite all these horrible experiences, many Filipinos are still unaware of their responsibilities to their environment and, thus, continue to practice the habit of throwing garbage elsewhere, burning plastic materials, smoke belching and what-nots. Now, given all of these, how do we meaningfully relate to our environment then? In the succeeding section, I will discuss some philosophical thoughts that will help provide a deeper understanding of our relationship to the environment.

Philosophical Approaches to Ecology

Before I proceed to the different philosophical approaches to ecology, let me qualify the use of ecology in this section. Here, I have adopted the meaning of the word “ecology”,

which was coined by Ernst Haeckel. According to Haeckel (1866), ecology refers to the scientific analysis of the interaction between animals, plants and their inorganic environment. Put simply, ecology deals with the balance of nature. Since nature includes human persons, ecology also encompasses the study of the human person’s role in her environment. Thus, I find ecology as the most appropriate term to use here rather than environment. Further, among the ecological theories, I will only discuss deep ecology, social ecology and transpersonal ecology because I am convinced that these ecological theories can help us easily understand our relationship to their environment. Let me now briefly discuss these three important ecological theories.

Let me start with deep ecology. Deep ecology was coined by Arne Naess and his colleagues Sigmund Kvaloy and Nils Faarlund in 1973. According to Naess (1973), deep ecology affirms the principle that all things in the world have their intrinsic value. This means that no matter how small or big the things that surround us, they possess some kind of intrinsic value which is important in creating balance in nature. For this reason, Naess proposed that each one of us should recognize the value of all the things that surround us so that we are able to live in harmony with our environment. Moreover, Naess’s deep ecology strongly rejects the anthropocentric view, which subscribes to the idea that humans are the most important species on the planet and, thus, they have superiority over nature. Hence, for the adherents of deep ecology, humans need to see the environment and all living things not as means for survival, but as “partners” or co-equals in the preservation life. For the deep ecologists, this is how humans ought to show their respect and love for the environment. The deep ecologists therefore urge humans to develop themselves into “ecological selves”. According to Bill Devall (1988), a deep ecologist himself, an ecological self is one that is mature, sensitive and caring towards the environment. However, Devall (1988) noted that we cannot attain an ecological self if we see ourselves as detached from our environment. Thus, for Devall (1988), it is only when we realized that we are deeply

dependent on the environment and nature that we are able to appreciate the value of all living things that surround us.

Indeed, as we can see in the above discussion, deep ecology provides us with the idea that our environment is an integral part to our existence. It is an undeniable fact that we are too much dependent on our natural resources for our daily subsistence. This simply means that if our natural resources are exhausted, human life might also perish. Thus, the deep ecologists suggest that each of us should develop an ecological self.

Another philosophical approach to the study of the environment is social ecology. Social ecology as a theory was developed by Murray Bookchin, who is an American anarchist and environmentalist. According to Bookchin (1982), social ecology provides an analysis of the patterns and forms of interrelationships between the human person and her environment. For Devall and Sessions (2002), Bookchin’s model of social ecology stems from the organismic tradition of Western philosophy that started with Heraclitus and then developed into the evolutionary dialectic of Aristotle and Hegel, and the social critical approaches of the Frankfurt School. According to Steven Best (1998), social ecology is considered as the most powerful and comprehensive environmental philosophy ever developed since it offers a powerful alternative to liberalism, Marxism, postmodern and ecological theories like ecofeminism and deep ecology. Best (1998) argues that Bookchin’s theory of social ecology seeks to unify the study of natural and social worlds. Indeed, it is a theory that views human beings, society and the natural worlds as complimentary partners of evolution.

According to Bookchin, as cited in Best (1998, p. 334-353), social ecology claims that all environmental problems that we are experiencing at present are social problems which are rooted in the disharmony of relationship between human beings and nature, where human beings have controlled nature for their own personal interests. For Bookchin, these pressing environmental crises are brought about by irrational, anti-ecological, and profit-driven capitalist society (Best, 1998, p. 337). Following Bookchin, Best argues further that the problems on global warming, climate change, depletion of natural

resources, among others, emerge because of human beings’ long history of dominating each other and colonizing the social and natural worlds for power and profit (Best, 1998, p. 336).

Since these environmental problems have social causes, the task of social ecology, therefore, is to provide a clear picture of the interplay or interrelationship between humans and their environment, through a careful analysis of the social and natural relationships. Bookchin believes that humans should live in harmony with their environment because the latter is essential in order for the former to survive. As we can see, plants, animals, soil, trees and other living and non-living things in our surroundings provide us with our basic needs, such as food, shelter and clothing. Thus, for Bookchin, all abuses that we inflict on, for example, plants, animals, marine resources and soil, will ultimately return to us or even creates more danger in our lives. For instance, any serious disorders in the land or in plants and animals eventually produce illness in the human body (Bookchin, 1982). Thus, Bookchin (1982) offers a philosophical alternative that serves as a normative guide to address these ecological issues. Bookchin (1982) calls this as the “ethics of complementarity”, which suggests the notion of mutual dependence and cooperation between humans and the environment, and the important idea that human beings and other social institutions must be respectful and responsible towards the environment. According to Bookchin, the realization of this ideal necessarily results in the emergence of

an

ecological

society—a

model

of

social

organization

characterized

by

interdependence and cooperation between and among members of the society.

As we can see in the above discussion, social ecology taught us that environmental problems are primarily caused by human negligence. Furthermore, the social ecologists believe that our actions towards the environment have a direct impact on our lives. In this context, we can say that the different deadly catastrophes that we have recently experienced were products of our irrational decisions and irresponsible actions towards our environment. Thus, social ecology suggests that we have to be mindful of our actions toward the environment and actively take part in preserving and protecting our natural resource. In this way, we can say that we are in perfect harmony with our environment.

Lastly, let me briefly discuss transpersonal ecology as another important philosophical approach to the study of the environment. This ecological theory was developed by Warwick Fox in 1990. Here, Fox attempted to develop further the concept of deep ecology. In doing so, Fox borrows the main concept of deep ecology that humans and the environment are partners or co-equals in the preservation of life. But unlike Naess’s model of deep ecology, which uses axiological or value theory, Fox’s transpersonal ecology employs psychological approaches in analyzing the relationship between humans and the environment.

Transpersonal ecology explains the tripartite aspects of human self which gives us the theoretical basis of our attitude towards our environment. As suggested by the transpersonal ecologists, we have to understand not just the importance of the environment to us, but our role in the life’s cycle. In that way, we are able to anchor our decisions and actions in accordance to moral norms and to natural laws.

Fox (1990) introduced the idea that the human self can be categorized into three, namely, a desiring-impulsive self, normative-judgmental self, and a rationalizing-deciding self. According to Fox (1990), the desiring-impulsive self wants, and always desires, to acquire things in a short period of time without considering the needs of others. On the other hand, the normative-judgmental self behaves in accordance to social norms and social expectations. Lastly, the rationalizing-deciding self always makes decisions and actions based on reasons (Fox, 1995). Fox argues that with these three categories, the self is able to do the following. First, the desiring-impulsive self enables us to desire for maximum exploitation of the natural resources. This explains why some of us are more concerned with gaining more profit out of the natural resources without considering the interest of other people. Second, the normative-judgmental self enables us to recognize the existence of reality-imposed constraints and obey certain moral demands of the society. Contrary to the desiring-impulsive self, the normative-judgment self exhibits our

characteristic of being frugal in using our natural resources. And third, the rationalizingdeciding self enables us to rationalize our actions toward the environment. This aspect of the self allows us to consider the pros and cons of our actions (Fox, 1995).

Fox and other transpersonal ecologists also believed that our decisions and actions are very important in our relationship to the environment. In most cases, when we make decisions, we are just thinking of something that will benefit us or those things that will help make our lives better. Because of this, we tend to disobey social norms and disrespect the interests of other people and our environment. As a result, our actions cause disharmony in our community and to environment. For this reason, transpersonal ecologists suggest that we have to uphold a transpersonal self, that is a self that overcomes the desiring-impulsive or selfish character and turns itself into an ethical and rational self. This is a type of self that is conscious of its responsibility in protecting and preserving her environment (Stavely & McNamara, 1992).

Now, these three philosophical approaches to ecology allow us to have a closer look at the interrelatedness of the human person and her environment. These approaches indeed have pointed out the importance of harmony between the human person and the environment. In order to maintain this harmony, the human person has to treat the environment as a partner in the preservation of life, that is to say, the human person has to appreciate the value of all things in her surrounding, rather than just treat them as means for her to survive. Lastly, the three philosophical approaches to ecology have shown to us the relevance of our actions and decisions to our environment. They have affirmed that whatever actions we do to our environment, either good or bad, have corresponding consequences. In fact, the environmental crises that we are experiencing at present are somewhat the products of our own wrongdoings. Thus, it is important that we observe prudence in appropriating our limited resources and that we have to protect and preserve our environment for the betterment of humans and society.

Conclusion

As we can see, the different environmental problems that we are facing today have something to do with our irresponsible actions towards the environment. For instance, as presented above, the deadly catastrophes that we have experienced lately in our country, like the strong storms, soil erosions and flashfloods, have somehow resulted from our act of abusing and exploiting our environment. For this reason, the deep ecologists urged us to develop an ecological self, which allows us to treat our environment as a partner in the preservation of life. It is also for this same reason that the adherents of social ecology call us to protect and preserve our environment. Lastly, the adherents of transpersonal ecology responded to the said problem by urging human persons to consider the common good when appropriating our natural resources. Truly, this is how we show care for the environment and at the same time contribute to health, well-being and sustainable development. If we do this, then we can say that we also have organized things in the environment in an aesthetic way.