Przyroda jako dobro wspólne w koncepcji ekologii integralnej

This paper is a review article based on the tradition of realistic philosophy. Its goal is to collect and organize information on two categories emerging in the field of humanistic research into environmental protection. It is about the concepts of “common good” and “integral ecology”, and the assessment of the relationship between them. Another concept analyzed in realistic philosophy is that of “nature”. The good was presented as a universal property of beings, including nature understood as a complex multiplicity of individual beings connected by mutual physical, chemical and biological relations. Nature is regarded as a common good, i.e., a property of all people which serves the development of every individual that makes up the human community. What combines the common good in the sense of classical philosophy with the integral ecology based on Christian doctrine is the guarantee of sustainability and the most equitable access to natural resources. The principle of “diversity in unity” inscribed in the common good is particularly consistent with the assumptions of integral ecology. The interpretation of the common good in the ecological dimension leads to the statement that nature management cannot be based on unlimited liberal freedom, but must be subordinated to minimizing social inequalities and improving the difficult situation of people and entire nations living in poverty and unworthy social or natural conditions. What is needed here is justice, the essence of which consists of the ideas of human dignity, equality, and proportionality in interpersonal relations. These are also common elements of the idea of “common good” and integral ecology.