Towards A Symphonic Existence With Nature

ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS

Butterflies

The most conventional definition of the term “ecology” is “the interdisciplinary scientific study of the living conditions of entities in interaction with each other and with the surroundings, animate as well as inanimate” (Naess, 1989, p.36). Yet, a non-ecological viewpoint is mostly associated with an atheistic religious affiliation; as such, believers may feel they are acquitted from this cosmic judicial proceeding. I beg to differ!

Pope Benedict XVI in this regard spoke of practical atheism. Practical atheism is a moral and intellectual clash that results in the assertion of one set of religious beliefs and living contrary to that belief (Benedict, 2012). This is precisely our challenge and commission; to be good-natured with our environment and to perceive it all as having intrinsic worth.

Nevertheless, Descartes presents a well-known standard for value. He asserts that; “substances with indispensable value are those that need nothing but themselves to exist” (Griffn, 2012). Nonetheless, even maggots and worms ventilate and enrich the earth for man and for plants. Correspondingly, man in life and in death supports and adds variety to the ‘dietary menu’ of other organisms including that of maggots. This substantiates the fact that a totally individual existence is not the ultimate standard of value otherwise human beings too would not be valued.

With respect to science, Newton describes reality in terms of mathematics and physical laws. He perceives the world as a machine that has to vomit out mathematical and undebatable truths. This has created a distinction between man and nature. As stated by Sperring (2005), the Cartesian approach to reality on the other hand has caused the human mind to be seen as superior to the external reality.

When one studies biology or any life science, it usually is clear that their obligation is not that of spotting the brilliance of plant life or cell dynamics and its fundamental value. It is rather that of calculating, quantifying, computing and measuring. Why can’t the natural scientist admit that separating fragments from the whole simply diminishes the interpretability of the experimental discoveries? Cells in individuality will at no time reveal the nature of plant life precisely because reality is made up of inter-linked individuals. In fact, splitting up any entity with the objective of knowing the aforementioned, is precisely adulteration! Nature cries out to us “divided we fall, united we stand.”

It is realistic after all to state that every form of intellectual or religious tradition is currently forced to shift its paradigms towards a more “nature-friendly” world view. All the same, we must agree that this paradigm shift has stemmed from the state of emergency in which we have found ourselves. Global warming, desertification, extreme drought and critical climatic instability, have forced us to have a positive point of view towards nature.

Conclusively, we can say that human beings have always felt themselves at the epicentre of the cosmos. As such, we need a Copernican revolution to awaken us from the delusion that we are the determiners of what has value and of what has not. Ecology is precisely letting go of our grip on the ecosphere. We can reiterate that ecology is essentially perceiving nature as an interconnected reality of individuals having value in themselves. This is not just an intellectual discipline but a growth in selflessness. Ecology is the realization that extrinsic value is but secondary

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