ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY: REVISITING THE PARADIGM SHIFT AND ENVIRONMENTAL PRESERVATION

Résumé

Environmental philosophy reflects on the natural environment and the place of man. The crucial questions are human relation to environmental challenges such as environmental degradation, climate change, etc. There are catalogues of environmental disciplines from numerous faculties of human research such as environmental philosophy and ethics, environmental epidemiology, environmental microbiology, geography, environmental management, economics, and more. The multifaceted character leading to environmental crisis questions the extent of these human inquiries and their contributions. The problem is that, human activities and negligence to the adverse effects some of these activities has on the environment is costing us our most habitable planet. Environmental philosophy involves the reflection of nature which transcends the question about the 'ought' and 'is' of the natural world. Using an expository analyticalmethod, we shall elucidate, and clarify environmental ideas and problems, charting the course for environmental activities and principles to be followed in carrying out experiments on the environment. The aim of this paper is to query the existing order of environmental activities and proffer possible ways in which all in the belly of the earth can be preserved from the crisis of anthropocentrism thereby creating an awareness of the danger ensued from human activities to the environment. Moral obligation and relational responsibility should be extended to also non-human counters. The significance of this paper is in the solutions it proffers to resolve the problems of environmental degradation and preservation, because environmental degradation does not affect only the environment but also humans.