What does philosophy tells us about our relationship with the environment?

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Inma Mora Sánchez

Journalist & communicator

Inma Mora Sánchez is a journalist and expert in interdisciplinary gender studies. Her career is connected to the social economy (the ‘third sector’) and socially impactful communications. She has taken part in projects on rural development, gender violence prevention and human rights promotion, and was a spokesperson for HelpAge Spain.

She currently works as a freelance journalist and communications and gender consultant, collaborating with organizations such as EthicLab, Viña del Mar University and APCGénero.

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We might be worried about how we manage natural resources and the impact we have on ecosystems, which occupies a central place on today’s political and social agenda, but this is by no means new.  From the first philosophical treatises, which attempted to explain the origin of the world, to current trains of thought, reflection about our environment have produced very diverse ideas. On the one hand, we find anthropocentric views, where nature is a resource at the service of humanity, while other thought has tried to explain the environment from a bio-centric or eco-centric perspective, recognizing the value of every life form and promoting more sustainable and ethical practices.

Nature in classical philosophy

By the 7th Century, Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus was asking himself what the universe was made of. Thales attempted to explain the origin of the Cosmos and nature without resorting to mythology, an approach that gave birth to philosophical and scientific thought based on empirical evidence. The fact that water could change state without losing its essence led Thales to view it as the origin of everything (arjé). His concept of nature as a fluid and transformative process pre-dates more recent thought emphasizing the connection between all elements of an ecosystem.

This idea is also present in Anaximander, a disciple of Thales and considered by some to be the first naturalist philosopher. Anaximander introduced the concept of Apeiron, which refers to the infinite or unlimited, an eternal principle from which the Cosmos emerged. He also maintained that the first human beings originated from water and evolved from other species, at the time a surprising idea and akin to modern evolutionary concepts, but it was founded without contemporary scientific rigor. For his part, Heraclitus of Ephesus proposed that the fundamental principle of the universe was fire, understood not only as a physical element, but as a metaphor for constant change and transformation. His famous idea that “everything flows” (panta rhei) reflects his thinking that nature is a dynamic process in which nothing remains equal. The following quotation is attributed to him: “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.”

Socrates marked a radical change toward anthropocentricity, believing harmony between humans and nature to be a state of spiritual equilibrium. For him, happiness (eudaimonía) implied a profound connection between the soul and the nature of the universe, where virtuous behavior was key to living in harmony with the Cosmos. In the modern context, this could be translated as a need to conduct ourselves respectfully toward nature, avoiding actions which damage the environment so that we are aligned with it.

"Socrates marked a radical change toward anthropocentricity, believing harmony between humans and nature to be a state of spiritual equilibrium".

Although the main concerns of later philosophers like Plato and Aristotle went on to focus on subjects such as ethics, justice and politics, they didn’t abandon the study of nature. Aristotle, for instance, made systematic observations in biology and cosmology, although as part of a broader system that also included social and philosophical themes.  

From this time, we also find concepts far removed from classical Greek and which appear to be very close to modern thinking. Taoism, developed in ancient China, emphasized the importance of living in harmony with Tao, the natural flow of the universe. Its founder, Lao-Tsé, advocated living in a better way by following the universe’s natural rhythm, by practicing the principle of wu wei, a kind of “non-action”. This meant that any action involving nature has an impact and consequences, which could be reinterpreted in present times when considering the effects of climate change, but also in the idea of a positive society and how with our actions we can generate a favorable impact on our surroundings.

"The wu wei principle says that any action involving nature has an impact and consequences, which could be reinterpreted when we think of the idea of a positive society and how with our actions we can generate a favorable impact on our surroundings".

Pragmatic ecology 

Forward in time to the Middle Ages and there are more specific examples of preoccupations over natural resources. Although this was based on practical and economic questions rather than resource sustainability, we find some actions akin to promoting the circular economy or local commerce. In this sense, Irene González Hernando, Doctor in Art History, explains that, already during the Middle Ages, we see some practices that today we would describe as ecological, such as the proliferation of urban allotments for local consumption. In the 15^th C., for example, she writes that, within the walls of the city of Rennes, 59% of the urban surface area was dedicated to allotments and they benefited from animal and human fertilizers, something we would ascribe today as being part of the circular economy.

Nature living in harmony with the machine

With the arrival of the Renaissance came the idea of the Cosmos as a dynamic, interconnected system. The wide range of work by Leonardo da Vinci demonstrates his fascination with nature, which no other invention could surpass “in beauty, simplicity or economy”, he said, even though in his inventions “nothing lacked and nothing was superfluous”. His knowledge of the world from a holistic viewpoint made him a precursor in several different disciplines, including ecology. Years later, thinkers like Descartes, also spoke of the universe as a system of interconnected elements. But, while Leonardo thought of nature as a living whole organism, Descartes developed a mechanistic vision in which the natural world functioned like a machine that could be predicted and manipulated via science.

                 "Philosophers such as Descartes saw the universe as a system of interconnected elements"

With the scientific and technological advances that took place during the 18^th and 19^th Centuries, and which gave rise to the Industrial Revolution, society also returned to a more utilitarian vision of nature. Thus the exploitation of the natural environment was justified in that it satisfied human needs and was valued as a function of its usefulness in bringing about well-being and prosperity in economic terms.

New ways of looking at nature

In the 20^th Century, negative impacts from the industrial development model increased concerns for the environment and the first ecological movements and theories emerged. Seminal works such as The Land Ethic (1949) by Aldo Leopold and Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962) marked an inflection in environmental awareness. Carson, a marine biologist and a precursor of contemporary ecologism, publicly denounced the impact of pesticides on ecosystems and warned of the consequences of unfettered human intervention in nature, and her example led to the basis for environmental regulations in many countries.

Ecologism has diversified and been articulated via various movements, such as ecofeminism, a term introduced by Françoise d’Eaubonne which expounds the interconnection between the oppression of women and the exploitation of nature. Vandana Shiva, one of the movement’s main exponents, advocated the need to put sustainability, cooperation and solidarity at the center of society, in place of the extractivist logic  of global capitalism.

        "The debate over our relationship with nature continues to be a big challenge in the 21^st Century".

Meanwhile, Arne Naess introduced the concept of “deep ecology”, a vision of the world that rejects hierarchy between humans and nature, recognizing the inherent value of all living beings. On the same lines, Paul W. Taylor, with The Ethics of Respect for Nature, advocated a bio-centrist perspective, in which each organism possesses an intrinsic value, independently of its use to humans.

Today, these philosophical currents of thought continue to evolve and dialog with new ideas and politics, while the debate over our relationship with nature continues to be one of the big challenges of the 21^st Century. We cannot, however, forget that the impact of our actions is not limited to the environment. It also directly affects our social structure and human relations. The quest for a society in which people can co-exist in harmony with their surroundings and selves is essential to building a future in which social and environmental justice interweave.