Environmental ethics is a new branch of philosophical perspective that examines the relationship between humans and the environment and their needs for each other. It also emphasizes value in its natural environment, rather than human appreciation of it. In the second half of the 20th century and in the 1970s, it emerged as an independent philosophical movement. In environmental ethics, the main principle is respect for nature itself, not for us. Environmental ethics begins with this boundary, which distinguishes the value of nature and other creatures in themselves from the value that man gives them as a self-made sovereign. Environmental ethics, on the one hand, reconnects man to the environment and nature, and on the other hand, represents nature and what is in the environment as an independent entity and views it as an autonomous entity. The antecedents of this idea can be found in atheistic religions such as Jainism in ancient India, in Buddhism, and in ancient Greek philosophy, known as the philosophers of nature.
What Are the Stages of Environmental Thought in History?
Historically, the idea of environmental thought has gone through several stages, including;
The first stage: The stage of sanctification and deification of nature.
At this historical stage, nature and man are not separated from each other and man has not separated himself from other creatures and nature. At this stage, man soon understood that nature has a beautiful, musical, harmonious face and a cruel and aggressive face.
The second stage: The stage of philosophy of nature and objectification of nature.
Since ancient Greece, with the upsurge of the philosophy of nature, the natural environment has become the subject of research for man and the earth has become the center of the universe. Nature is seen as an independent space created for man.
The third stage is the stage of occupation and oppression of capitalist colonialism.
This period began here, in which empirical science had a great influence on changing human attitudes towards nature and the environment. A period in which human progress was a major goal. New science was born by the conquest of nature and the environment for the sake of human interests. Most philosophers and scientists believed that the more successful man was in understanding natural phenomena, the more he could secure the abilities of nature and other creatures and build his happiness on them.
Stage Four: The stage of repentance and restoring respect for the natural environment and creatures
At this stage, man is in regret and a kind of respect for nature, the environment and other creatures, which of course, the history of humanity that brought this level, not only did not bring happiness and security for man, but also shame. Human awareness of the future of oneself and one’s descendants and the dangers of the complexity of life and the possibility of survival, the emergence of critical thought and philosophical ethics, made humanity aware of the dangers that are predictable and understood the damage.
