The Evolutionary Context of

Environmental Ethics

Rainier R. A. Ibana
Ateneo de Manila University
 This paper aims to articulate the
foundations of an
Environmental Ethics
❖ in our primordial kinship with the material
universe.
 Our consciousness of our natural
affinity with the material cosmos

❖ should make us solicitous of the welfare of other

beings who share our physical constitution.
 The startling new discoveries of the
sciences, moreover, are pointing to

❖the human being’s ancestral lineage all the way

back to the stars . . .
 The advent of the Differential
Microwave Radiometer
❖has allowed astrophysicists to listen to the cosmic
background of the universe’s initial explosion, the
so-called “Big Bang,” 15 billion years ago.
The residues of this ancient explosion
❖ -- salts, potassium, calcium, chloride, and magnesium –

❖ are now immersed in our human bodies as ions that charge

our nervous system.
 Such astounding discoveries lend
support to the claim that

❖“We are the Universe come alive!”*

❖ *Gerald Schroeder, The Hidden Face of God (New York: Touchstone Books,
2001), pp. xi ff..
Between the 15 billion neurons in our
brain and the 15 billion stars in the
skies, moreover,
lies the incalculable generations of terrestrial and
extra-terrestrial beings that inhabit the universe
 At the apex of this cosmic kinship
stands the human person,
the microcosmic embodiment of the various levels of
the material universe.
Aside from our weight, vegetative and
animal instincts,

❖ humans can transform the material world into the spiritual

realm of the arts, symbols and rituals
 Humans therefore serve as mediators
❖“between the earth and sky,”
❖between the material and the spiritual universe.
The human mind, characterized by its
spirituality,

❖bears the unique task of transforming the material

world in the image and likeness of its own ideals,
goals and aspirations.
 The human spirit, however, is lodged
in the nervous system,

❖a system rooted in the evolutionary process.

❖

❖
❖
 The evolutionary origins of humans
are etched in the brain’s triadic
❖ the human,
structure:

❖ the mammalian, and

❖ the reptilian vortices

 These vortices have their
corresponding functions:
Reptilian Mammalian Human neo-cortex

Survival instincts Concern for one’s Insight to plan for

kin the needs of others
and of oneself
*Each function also corresponds to a type of morality (and
consequently, various types of environmental ethics):
preconventional, conventional, post-conventional
Ecological ethics function in the realm
of the human neo-cortex,
❖beyond the myopic views of reptilian and
mammalian instincts.
The ecological principle of sustainable
development, for example,

❖extends the scope of human responsibility to that

of future generations.
The human neo cortex, however, is the
latest stage in the evolutionary
process.
❖The neurological links that bind it are therefore
weaker than its reptilian and mammalian
counterparts.
 When threatened by stress and the
struggle for survival,
❖ we naturally regress back to our primeval instincts in
order to defend our turf and skin.

❖ These are the moments when we tend to unfortunately

forget our humanity and behave like animals.
 Sometimes, we are even worse than
animals;
❖Because we can utilize our human brains to satisfy
our biological desires.
 In order to realize our concern for
ecological survival, we must cultivate
our solicitude for the environment
❖by means of constant practice.
It is no wonder that Aristotle, the most
scientific mind of the Ancient World,
❖defined virtue in terms of habits concerned with
choice . . . .

❖Our repeated choices shape our character

Our choices send electrical currents
through our nervous system
When repeated, such electro-chemical
currents bind the synaptic clefts
between the neurons in our brains
Our brains are shaped by the web of
synapses that links our nervous
system.
 Since the brain lies at the frontiers of
the evolutionary process
❖We hold the future of the universe through the
daily choices that we make with respect to our
environment.
Choices that favor ecological systems
take holistic and long term views into
account.
 Our simple act of breathing, for
example, already has myriad effects:
 One of the main principles of
environmental ethics, is to act in view

❖of the ecological context of organisms.

 The often cited case of intricate
ecosystems is that of a Malaysian village
that sprayed DDD to kill mosquitoes
❖ended up killing the cats that fed on roaches that
were killed along with the mosquitoes. The rapid
reproduction of the population of rats caused an
epidemic, causing the Royal Air Force to
parachute cats in order to contain the damage.
Ecological systems remind us of the
multiple relationships among
organisms in a shared habitat.
 Ecological disasters set in precisely
when we have forgotten

❖The effects and counter effects of our actions or

non actions on the environment.
While it is a truism to say that humans
are the usual culprits of ecological
disasters,
❖it is equally true that only humans can save and
enhance the current state of our environments.
 Human capacities for reflection and
decision-making

can guide and direct the future trajectory of the created

universe.
 Desserts, for example, can be
transformed, by means of human
technology, into gardens.
Flood waters can be harnessed into
dams.
 Responsibility for the environment
cannot be abdicated to anyone else.
❖ Animals don’t have ❖ While Angels don’t have
spiritual capacities. material bodies.

They are therefore incapable of

interfering with the workings of the
 We must reiterate, however, that the
brain, is merely the circuitry that
conditions
❖the emergence of the mind, the world’s spiritual
self-consciousness.
 Only humans, as embodied spirits,

❖ can lift and offer the

material world back to its
Source, whom we call
God.
❖ As St. Augustine puts in De
Civitate Dei IX 13:
❖ “Man is a middle being,
between the angels and the
beasts….”
 The project of material
transformation,

❖the formation of the world (and social institutions)

in the image and likeness of God, is therefore a
necessary mediating moment that will enable
humans to offer the world, including themselves
through their bodies, back to God, the source and
goal of goodness itself.
The created universe, therefore, is our
bridge towards God.

❖ We must be able to look back at it and discern from its

silhouette the vision of Genesis 1:30: “God saw all he had
made, and indeed it was very good.”
 Environmental ethics, therefore,
requires us to create the material and
social conditions

❖ that will allow the inherent self-diffusive goodness of all

beings to unfold as far as possible.
 In the concrete, environmental ethics
requires us to
❖ unblock personal and
institutional restrictions
that does not allow the
inherent goodness of the
universe to unfold

❖ in order to “let beings be.”