Original scientific paper

Kant’s Teleology as the Basis for Orientation in Ecology

Igor Eterović orcid.org/0000-0002-2232-0289 ; University of Rijeka, School of Medicine, Department of Social Sciences and Medical Humanities, Rijeka, Croatia

Abstract

Kant’s teleological theory, presented in the second part of Critique of Judgment, undeservedly received little reception. A possible fruitful valorization of this theory is an attempt of its bioethical interpretation. Kant’s “extended argument” lead him from internal purposivness of organisms to the nature as a system of ends, and finally to the ultimate and final end. This argument sets fruitful ground for the establishment of important bioethical messages related to ecology, through at least two moments. (1) People can achieve moral ends exclusively within nature, and use this same nature as a mean only with respect to the moral ends. (2) Nature is so interwoven and interconnected system that one can not conceit the possibility of comprehending all consequences of his act, let alone the ability to control these consequences, but one must be moderate in all interventions in the environment. These messages give us a significant contribution to the formation of orientational framework for accessing the environment.

Keywords

Immanuel Kant; teleology; orientational knowledge; ecology; bioethics

Hrčak ID:

72760

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/72760

Publication date:

8.9.2011.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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