Humanitatis-Eco (Eco-Humanism): An African Environmental Theory

Abstract

Environmental ethics is generally concerned with the moral relationship between human beings and the natural environment. This chapter delineates a uniquely African philosophical worldview where it relates to this normative relationship between the individual and the overall ecosystem. A few questions at stake would be: What constitutes African environmental ethics? Relatedly, in what ways does this view differ from the dominant Western discourse, and what unique contribution can the African worldview make? The chapter is divided into two sections. The first section examines the current debate on African environmental ethics and the contributions made thus far to contemporary environmental ethics. The second section draws upon a specific African worldview of life to articulate an inclusive theory that reconciles the human person and natural environment in a way that underscores the interconnectedness of humanity in terms of religiosity, temporality, and spatiality. This peculiarly African way of thinking about the environment can offer critical resources to enrich the dominant discussions on environmental ethics where it concerns environmental sustainability, rehabilitation, biodiversity, and environmental management.