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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. 43 23
