Oldal 25 [25]
1.5. Regulatory Concepts in Environmental Codifications
1.5. Regulatory Concepts in Environmental Codifications
In recent decades, three types of legal regulatory concepts related to the
protection of nature and the environment have emerged. These approaches
reflect the level of development in environmental regulation and, to some
extent, are incorporated into legislation, without which they would remain
merely theoretical constructs.
The predominant regulatory approach throughout much of the brief history
of environmental law has been anthropocentrism. This perspective views
humans as separate from and superior to nature, assigning value to any living
or non-living component of nature only insofar as it serves human interests.
However, an anthropocentric approach does not inherently advocate for
environmental harm. An environmental ethic rooted in anthropocentrism
ascribes moral value exclusively to humans, making the human person the
central criterion of ethical considerations. This human-centred worldview
has characterized Western thought since the time of the ancient Greeks.
A new phase in expanding the anthropocentric approach involves recognizing
the interests of future generations. The theoretical foundation of this philosophy
holds that no generation has the right to deprive future generations of the
environmental conditions it currently enjoys. In this sense, the rights of future
generations impose obligations on the present generation. Emphasizing the
interests of future generations has also contributed to the development of the
concept of sustainable development.
A further group of regulatory philosophies are those ideas that refer to the
protection and preservation of the environment or certain environmental
factors in themselves. The topic of the volume is not a detailed presentation
of these concepts, though some characteristics are highlighted in order to
contextualize the discussion.
Following the research of Ottó Pál Harsányi, ? we point out that, according
to Warwick Fox,? two fundamentally different lines of development can be
observed within these ideas: the theory of the intrinsic value of nature and a
psychological-cosmological approach, the latter being Deep Ecology (according
to Fox: Transpersonal Ecology). In the system of non-anthropocentric theories
created by J. Baird Callicott,** two directions of environmental ethics emerge:
biocentrism and ecocentrism. Unlike anthropocentrism, biocentrism puts the
2 See, Ottó Pál Harsányi, "Tájékozódás az ökofilozófiai irányzatok sokaságában és a keresztény
környezetetika kulcspontjai,” OMF, https://teremtesvedelem.hu/content/korlevel/
tanulmanygyujtemeny-kornyezettudatos-gondolkodashoz#2.
Warwick Fox, “Fondamenti antropocentrici e non antropocentrici nelle decisioni sull’ambiente,”
in Letica nelle politiche ambientali, ed. Chiara Poli and P. Timmerman (Padova: Fondazione
Lanza—Gregoriana Libreria Editrice, 1991).
“4 J. Baird Callicott, “Environmental Ethics: Overview,” in Encyclopedia of Bioethics, ed. Warren
T. Reich, vol. 2 (New York: Macmillan, 1995), 676, https://doi.org/10.1002/047001590X.
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