Tempos de barbárie: da necessidade de uma nova ética ambiental

Abstract

The vertiginous escalation of global economic activity, accompanied by the increasing technological development, seriously threatens the ecological balance of our planet, so it is urgent to change our paradigm of prosperity. It becomes necessary to adopt a new environmental ethic. This is what we refer to as the ethic of 'care', in which concern is not only for the continuity of the human species, which would keep us in an anthropocentric view, but also the intrinsic value of nature. The 'subject-object' scheme must be overcome, and this is done when man sees himself as 'being-in-the-world', as a constituent element of this. A sustainable prosperity will imply the change of the paradigm of the old economy based on the incessant and unbridled growth, driven by the innovation and the anxiety of social ascension based on the possession of material goods. The limited resources and the inability of the planet to absorb the harmful effects of growth oblige us to curb this wild growth in order to secure the future of humanity.