Promoting the Eco-Dialogue through Eco-Philosophy for Community

Abstract

The premises of the emergence of concepts about nature and the environment led to the emergence of new directions of philosophy, represented by eco-philosophy and ethics applied to the environment. These ideas result from the interference of philosophy with fields dedicated to studying nature and the environment, all of which have led to new currents of thinking that have shown tendencies toward the development of pro-ecological movements, such as the deep ecology movement or ecological humanism. The paper identifies how philosophy can support humanity, and especially communities, to protect the environment and planet in general through a new specialization—the practice of eco-philosophy applied to communities, supporting the need to promote ecological concepts, based on principles and tools taken from philosophy. In order to achieve the objective of the paper, three research questions were stated, and the methodology used consisted of a comparative study of the concepts and a bibliometric analysis of the literature identified for the analyzed fields. The results showed that in previous research, a network was created between the concepts of ecology, philosophy, and ethics. This fact confirms that, to put them into practice, a training program is needed for philosophical consulting practitioners who will apply the knowledge learned in dialogue with individuals or groups, as well as with organizations and the community. The conclusion of the paper supports the development of a dialogue between various areas as a necessary component for developing a sustainable community by implementing new counseling practices for communities, called Eco-Philosophy for Community (EP4com).