PHILOSOPHICAL ECOLOGY AFTER 20 YEARS

The article considers Erazim Kohak's approach to ecology in the contemporary situation. Kohak notes the dual source of the human perception of the world - revelation and nature. Both approaches include a moral standpoint. The basic difference between the past environment of human life and that today lies in the fact that man formerly lived in the midst of unspoilt nature while today the majority of people in the developed world are surrounded by human artifacts and so in fact live in the surroundings of a ''Lebenswelt''. In the natural world (''die vorgegebene Welt'') it is possible to perceive the presence of God's order, but in the world of mass industrial production this order is hidden: reality has lost its sanctity. Personalistic, vitalistic or mechanistic conceptions cannot reach the natural harmony, or perceive the coordinations, preordination and subordination of being. They cannot therefore be a substitute for a religious approach: esteem for creation, respect for partners in the performance of the world, for being itself. The study has references to all the representatives of the European philosophical tradition, as well as theological reflections with biblical references