Volume 51 (1996), 2

From the philosophical stand the paper analyzes the fashionable concept of „sustainable development“ in three contexts: economic, technological and environmental ones. From the economic point of view sustainability is related not only to the proportional consumption of natural resources but also to the conception of man-made and natural capital as well as to the… Read more

The request to behave morally towards the nature means to apply our morality to an inappriopriate field, because this morality was created for humans. We cannot be responsible for the nature, we cannot be her partners or administrators, although we can and must limit our interventions into it. The vocabulary for our contacts with nature yet has to be created.

Industrial civilization based on the authoritarian advantage of reason as interpreted within the framework of enlightenment, sees as its main objective domination and manipulation. The late 20th century, however, is witness to a new change, namely the shift from mechanistic to holistic conception of reality. The period of unconstrained economic growth is comig to… Read more

The paper gives an analysis of values in environmental ethics. Attention is paid to the most important axiological theories, i. e. axiological individualism, resp. axiological holism. The author’s standpoint is, that a value theory corresponding the protection of environment could not be built on a subjective axiology, which makes the background of the above… Read more

One of the most important current transformations of the value system concerns the relation betwen man, humanity and environment. The building of a functioning axiology which would embody the value of environment as an irretrievable real value of human being, takes on various forms. Thus the environmental ethics and ecophilosophy come up with new approaches to the… Read more

The paper deals with anthropocentric, resp, non-anthropocentric character of the environmental ethics. For fear of consequently applied non-anthropocentric approach, which could bring about the loss of humanistic perspective, the author points out, that it was the original, non-anthropocentric ethics of the early periods of humanity, which led to inequality, loss… Read more

Contrary to anthropological ethics the ecological ethics as the product of new ethical conscience applies also to our actions, which influence the sphere of non-humane. Three intrinsic ethical values: those of responsibility, temperance and coexistence, and three mediated ones: those of nourishment, adaptation and future play an important role in ecological ethics… Read more

In current Slovak and Czech ecophilosophical works the notion „revolution“ is often used to indicate an unavoidable and desirable change of the current relation between man and nature. The authors speak of a philosophical revolution, of an axiological revolution, a revolution in thinking, feeling, of a linguistic and semantic revolution (S. Hubik) and of the… Read more

Sharing the so called „intentionalistic“ approach adopted from the analytical philosophy of action, which the author considers to be the most appropriate prerequisite for solving the problem of individual responsibility, he discusses the concept of intentional action. The importance of such an approach for environmental ethics is more than obvious, that is, we… Read more

The philosophy of Thoreau and Nietzsche aims at returning man back into his natural condition, which he has been deprived due to the development of modem civilization. As Thoreau underlines, man’s alienation form nature results from his dissolution in the world of things and takes the form of his enslavement by the products of his own work. On the other hand,… Read more

Man is now standing on the threshold of the third millenium. In answering the critical question „What way?“ he should find himself and learn to live as a human being. This is the challenge of the current unprecedented global ecological crisis. For the ecological crisis is first of all the crisis of man’s humanity. While the true existence of the individual… Read more

In searching for a new ecological conception A. Leopold’s holistic interpretation proved to be inspirative, although in other disciplines the explicative force of the holistic approach is not accepted any more (as in postmodernism, the criticism is directed mainly towards its totalitarian consequences). On the other hand, the holistic approach contributed to… Read more

The place of man is ambivalent. It is the place of an epiphenomenon in the global environment and the place of a hegemon in the local one. Since the end of the Middle Ages man has not been accepting this ambivalent location any more. He regards himself as an unlimited, global hegemon. At the end of the XXth century this environmental attitude turned an… Read more