Symbiotic Respectivity: Contributions to a Philosophical Foundation of Ecology.

Abstract

In the history of Western philosophical thought, two major paradigms have emerged for understanding the cosmos—paradigms that we might now regard as interpretative models of reality. Grasping the foundational principles that each has contributed to the definition of what exists is essential for engaging with the meaningful elements of the contemporary paradigm. According to the latter, reality can no longer be conceived as a set of independent, self-contained atomic units—as in the classical view—but rather as emergent and respective unities, constituted through foundational symbiotic relations, which demand an understanding of the environment not as background but as habitat.