화이트헤드의 환경 철학에 대한 소고 3)

Abstract

According to Whitehead's ontological principle, the final ground of existence is not a conceptual entity but an actual entity. Whitehead points out that many philosophies have misunderstood conceptual entity for actual entity. Such misunderstanding continues until today. Whitehead called it the ‘fallacy of misplaced concreteness’. Bifurcation due to this fallacy was maximized by Kant. In the philosophical discussions about environmental problems, the so-called anthropocentrism and non-anthropocentrism are thought to be incompatible alternatives, between which we should decide. Kant's philosophy, based upon such fallacy, cannot solve the environmental problems. But in Whitehead's philosophy the anthropocentrism and the non-anthropocentrism are not two incompatible parties. They are not really divided, but only conceptually. That these views are not incompatible means that the human being and non-human beings are subject and environment to each other. Actual entity as a subject has the both final cause and efficient cause in it. Having both the final cause and the efficient cause, actual entity functions as subject of environment and also environment as efficient cause. All elements in the environment work on the subject and the subject has to accept such elements as its ingredients. Then the subject contains the final cause. It make its subjective purpose of the final cause. Accordingly, when the subject accepts them, it adds and deducts its ingredients according to its subjective purpose. The ability to add and deduct is immanent in every actual entity. In this way non-anthropocentrism has a philosophical ground. Consequently we can approach to nature-centrism or ecology-holism, because every actual entity has the function of final cause and efficient cause.