Claim of Ecophilosophy on the World Philosophy Day

Today, as every third Thursday of November, is World Philosophy Day. Philosophy (etymologically “love of wisdom”) is one of the fundamental attitudes of human beings, a disposition that pushes us to consider the value and meaning of our existence and our tasks. According to UNESCO – the driving force behind this commemoration – philosophy provides tools and conceptual bases to nurture the principles and values ​​on which coexistence depends. Knowing ourselves and also the systems of which we are a part – whether social or natural – is necessary to base a correct understanding and a deep respect for life in all its manifestations. Together with ethical intuitions and other irrational modes of knowledge, the exercise of thought and the reasoned confrontation of opinions and choices that characterize philosophy help us to respond to the immense challenges we have to face.

Precisely because of this, in order to cope with the unsustainable trends that are leading the world towards accelerated collapse, Silene Association vindicates ecophilosophy today. Ecophilosophy reflects critically on the ideological bases and patterns of behavior that have caused the current environmental emergency: anthropocentrism (considering that the Earth and other living things are subordinate to the human interests), scientism (believing that the scientific knowledge is the only true one), technocracy (trusting the future to a glorified technological development), hedonism (consuming in an immoderate and irresponsible way), materialism and the consequent desecration of the Cosmos (see Nature as ‘a resource’ to master and use unscrupulously), capitalism (exploiting ‘human and natural resources’ to obtain the maximum short term economic benefit) …

Ecophilosophy therefore advocates another paradigm, proposing a more harmonious relationship between humanity and nature. Ecophisolosophy advocates ecocentrism, a new and at the same time ancestral worldview, which points to the intrinsic and wonderful value of all living things and our interdependence with them. The deep perception of this fraternal bond awakens a responsible, sober (austere), loving (benevolent) and reverential attitude towards Mother Earth, all her inhabitants and her daily gifts. This ‘ecosophical’ behavior (personal, but also social – and, therefore, political and economic -), attentive to the wisdom of the Earth, typical of many human communities (still often considered ‘underdeveloped’ by the ‘advanced’ world) and proclaimed by many spiritual traditions of humanity, represents today the necessary, urgent and hopeful alternative to irrationality and unconsciousness.