서양 철학사를 통한 환경교육의 일환으로서 플라톤의 환경철학 연구

Abstract

In this paper, I set out to refute diverse arguments some contemporary environmental philosophers have often made in trying to find the roots of our modern environmental crisis in the environmental philosophy of Plato among the history of western philosophy. Therefore criticizing the misunderstanding and prejudice related to Plato’s attitude toward the environment in the center of the theory of Forms, I survey in detail the environmental philosophy of Plato as part of environmental education through the history of western philosophy. In doing so, it is rediscovered the meanings of environmental values of Plato’s philosophy and the possibilities of new environmental philosophy. I deal firstly with the most prevailed of the above those charges that Plato’s metaphysical dualism centered on the realm of Forms prevented the development of an ecological perspective and the appreciation of natural beauty. Although Plato may attribute more value to Forms than to perishable sensible particulars, under the light of ‘to save the phenomena’ I reassess the meaning of Plato’s philosophy in Phaeon and Republic. Through the grounds for having postulated such dualism are mainly epistemological, I emphasize the dogmatic ‘Zwei-Welten-Theorie’ is not compatible with his metaphysical epistemology proper. In addition, the same line of thought is followed by Laws X which contains Plato’s cosmic teleology based on the supremacy of soul, the problem of evil corresponded to human souls as responsible for partial evil, and the fluctuation between optimism concerning the whole universe and pessimism for human affairs. But I argue that human beings are archontes of the small portions that are allotted to them in the universe, the status of agents in contributing the cosmic justice as well as encouragers of the ecological responsibility toward environment around us. On Plato’s views about humans reincarnating into animals, no one is intrinsically superior to animals merely by being human. It is reason that matters, and which thus presents itself as the goal of both human and animal striving. On the other hand, it is interesting to note that even plants are given a faculty of sensitivity, together with pleasure and pain. I claim that Plato’s stance considering animals and plants criticize the narrow anthropocentrism, offer the theoretical foundation of the new environmental theory. The environmental philosophy of Plato is evaluated as ‘an old future’ to include innovative alternatives of environmental ethics and emphasize the conservation of natural environment ,not the originator to cause the environmental crisis or problems. In his environmental concerns, that is, the substance of Plato’s metaphysical epistemology related to ‘saving the phenomena’, his notion of nature and teleology based on the non-anthropocentrism, we encounter the enhanced consciousness of environment related to holistic and non-anthropocentric dimension of universe and the warnings of ‘speciesism’ regarding plants.