Sustainable Development and Integral Ecology: The Philippine Ecological Experience

Two of the most important concepts that are related to environmental care and our present ecological situation are sustainable development and integral ecology. Pope Francis in his encyclical letter Laudato Si’ focused on these concepts and stressed the need to safeguard our environment to ensure that while we meet the needs of the present generation we also do not compromise the needs of the future generation. He proposes a development that is both sustainable and integral, a development that is authentically just and for the common good. In this paper I discuss the ideals of sustainable development and integral ecology as expounded by various scholars and from both the western and oriental perspectives and as discussed in Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’. The last section of the paper highlights the Philippine ecological situation to serve not as an ideal but a kind of mirror as to what is happening in a developing country like the Philippines which is situated in an area where different ecological factors converge. The Philippines has always been at the center of the many ecological crises mainly because of human and natural factors. In the end, I stress that sustainable development must be premised on integral ecology and this should be the case not only in the Philippines but in the entire planet

CULTURAL PLURALISM AND CULTURAL DIALOGUE

Dasar keyakinan atas pluralisme kebudayaan adalah kebebasan individual dan kolektif untuk memilih hal yang berbeda. Namun ketidaksamaan berlebihan dan kontrol terlalu besar dari pihak yang lebih berkuasa tidakmemungkinkan interaksi yang sehat. Dalam kondisi macam itu konsep 'peradaban' hanyalah pembenaran-diri kolonialisme, imperialisme dan akulturasi koersif. Dan peradaban akan menjadi beban. Artikel ini  menekankan interaksi kultural global yang saling memperkaya dan saling menghaluskan. Kebudayaan adalah sebuah dialog yang lantas menuntut standard kehalusan atau standard peradaban yang juga berragam. Bila peradaban dilihat sebagai berbagai pola ungkap yang berbeda, maka iabukanlah beban melainkan peluang

PRESERVING ASIAN CULTURAL IDENTITIES IN THE FACE OF GLOBALIZATION

This paper tackles the issues of globalization, cultural identity, and safeguarding Asian cultural identities in face of globalization. It discusses the phenomenon of globalization and its effect on culture, the notion of culture and the multiplicity of the Asian cultural identities. While globalization is more of an economic and technological phenomenon, it has a great effect on culture, especially our Asian cultures. We have definitely gained something positive from globalization, but one possible consequence of globalization is the disintegration of our cultural identities. So one important question that this paper will try to address is: how do we preserve our Asian cultural identities in the face of the globalization? How do we integrate ourselves, without losing our identities in the bigger global society

The Notions of the Human Person and Human Dignity in Aquinas and Wojtyla

At the center of the various transformations and advancements inmodern society is man. It is man by whom and for whom these transformations and advancements are made. But one negative factoraccompanying these transformations is the violence or the degradation of the human person and his dignity, more alarming is the violence committed by man against his fellow man. Today, there is so much violence in the world, everyday we hear about killings, kidnappings, rapes, abortion, terrorist attacks, hunger, wars and many other acts of violence. It is ironic that, while the human person is the very victim of this violence, it is also the human person who is the perpetrator of such violence, man is simultaneously the victim and the culprit. Man indeed is a paradox, for while he is bestowed with dignity and good nature, he is also capable of doing evil and inflicting harm against others. This violent tendency happens because man fails to acknowledge the very dignity of his nature which is rooted in his fundamental relation with God and extended to his fellow human beings. Man is by nature good, but he is also capable of doing evil things. The Catholic Church through its teachings and writings have always emphasized the value of the person, while at the same time acknowledging the fact that he is as much capable of degrading himself. The Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World, “Gaudium et Spes” acknowledges the many divergent and contradicting opinions of man about himself, one of which “exalts man as the absolute measure of all things and debases himself to the point of despair. The result is doubt and anxiety.