Ecological ethics in Polish studies classes

Abstract

The aim of the article is to justify the role of literature in shaping man’s attitudes towards nature in Polish studies, and to present these issues on the basis of representative interpretations of poetry. Such objectives stem from the social needs of the changes of man’s destructive behavior, as well as from the systemic absence of these problems in Polish studies. It makes use of literature which I perceive as a particularly sensitive tool which enables us to redefine the attitudes which are shaped by culture. The theoretical part of the article discusses biocentric concepts. They challenge the anthropocentric position of human communities in biosphere, and they are based on the ethics of ecology (ecoethics), meaning observations of systemic relations between man and nature. Ecoethics is not a synonym for ecology, a morally neutral area of science which deals with relations between organisms and nature. In the second part of the article, I depict some examples of interpretations of literary works according to the rules which emerged in research on directions of ethics of ecology (selected poems by J. Przyboś, J. Podsiadło, M. Świetlicki, L.A. Moczulski). The works which appeal to sensual experiences are particularly important. Experiencing beauty seems to play an exceptional role in evoking the readers’ imaginary experiences. Aesthetic influence intensifies ethical influence of literature and other works of culture, including the need to protect nature. It incorporates their ecoethical senses. As a result, a reconciliation between man’s civilisation aspirations and a friendly coexistence in nature does not have to mean utopian aspirations.