The Ecological Person

In this essay, Luk Bouckaert attempts to re-evaluate the philosophical foundations of Personalism by posing two challenging questions. The first question concerns our self-perception as a person: is it possible for Personalists, who value the unique dignity of every person, to subordinate their freedom to nature as an eco-system? Or can they approach nature itself as a personal Presence? The second question is perhaps even more challenging. The word ‘hope’ is invoked in many contemporary speeches and writings, but can it withstand the scientific scenarios predicting climate catastrophe?Bouckaert does not present us with a blueprint for political action, but he entices us to rethink our relationship with nature. To do so, we can draw much inspiration from Albert Schweitzer, Teilhard de Chardin, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Buber, who Bouckaert discusses as ‘pioneers of Ecopersonalism’ since they formulated the ecological turn already a hundred years ago.