Environmental Ethics: A Catholic View

摘要

A substantial environmental ethic appears in the official teachings of the Catholic Church. The central driving force of this environmental ethic views human life and human dignity as the most sacred foundation, a tenet that appears in all of the Church's ethical and social teachings. A Catholic environmental ethic can be situated among contemporary environmental ethics, specifically by examining Catholic environmental ethics along the axes of anthropocentrism and nonanthropocentrism by looking at Catholic social teaching, especially as it has been described by Popes John Paul Ⅱ and Benedict (ⅩⅥ). In their publications and speeches going back to 1987, they paid much attention to raising environmental awareness, and made continuous efforts to illustrate how an environmental ethic naturally fits within the Church's ethical teachings. John Paul Ⅱ illuminated the intimate connection between Catholic social teaching and environmental ethics, and Benedict (ⅩⅥ) wove these themes together even more tightly.