Ekologiczne wyzwanie dla refleksji moralnej

Abstract

The article deals with what is one of the greatest problems of the contemporary world, namely, the degradation of our natural environment. Pope John Paul II refers to it as the ecological question. In his opinion its origins life first of all in man's moral crisis. Man's natural environment is not only valuable in its own right, but it also is the biosphere of human life. Man and environment constitute a kind of unity. Man is linked to the environment through the relation of contemplation, symbiosis and work. These relations have their parallels in the moral sphere, which are the substance of appropriate rights and duties. That is why a threat to the environment always constitutes a threat to the human right to life, which is guarded by God's commandment, "Thou shalt not kill". The ecological crisis thus challenges us to search for a saving remedy. A special role in this falls to the moral disciplines: ethics and moral theology. It is up to them to work out both general and particular principles of man’s ecological behaviour so as to make it affirm human dignity and the value of the environment. Aiming at a philosophical and theological synthesis, moral reflection ought to take into account such constitutive elements as participation in the mystery of sin, sense of responsibility, correct hierarchy of values, due autonomy of the natural environment, and man's dignity. Existing attempts to develop a morality of ecology by A. Schweitzer, A. Auer, T. Ślipko and J. Grzesica are also discussed.