The changing of environmental philosophical thinking in the Czech Republic

LESŇÁK, Slavomír. The changing of environmental philosophical thinking in the Czech Republic. Online. Ethics & Bioethics (in Central Europe). 2024, vol. 14, 1–2, p. 114–123. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.2478/ebce-2024-0002.

Basic information

• Original name: The changing of environmental philosophical thinking in the Czech Republic
• Authors: LESŇÁK, Slavomír.
• Edition: Ethics & Bioethics (in Central Europe), 2024.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Field of Study: 60301 Philosophy, History and Philosophy of science and technology
• Country of publisher: Slovakia
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: URL
• Organization unit: Faculty of Education
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/ebce-2024-0002
• Keywords in English: environmental philosophy, Czech philosophy, ethics, history
• Tags: Reviewed

Abstract

The ecological crisis affects every person and place on the planet. Environmental thinking reflects on the causes of this crisis, the diversity of its consequences, as well as its solutions and their perception by individuals in the past and present. The presentation of local contexts of perceptions and solutions to the crisis emerging from lesser-known traditions helps to complete a holistic picture of a human and to find answers to the question of how to act rightly. Even Czech environmental thinking emerging from specific Central European traditions (J. Hus, J. A. Comenius, T. G. Masaryk, V. Havel) has the potential to enrich the image of a human and the perception of the morality of existing proposed solutions. In the following text, the author will present the prehistory of environmental thinking in Czech lands, the development of this thinking, and the most important authors of the last 30 years. The presented research results are based on historical and research methods, the most important monographs, and scientific articles in the field of philosophy, history of philosophy, ethics, and sociology. Topics covered include the introduction and problems of evolutionary ontology, the importance of philosophy and environmental philosophy in times of ecological crisis, the issues of communities of people of voluntary frugality, the socio-ecological approach, ecological rationality, etc. The article points to the dominance of ecocentric views on the ecological crisis in Czech thinking, as well as to the causes of the limits of environmental thinking in the Czech environment.