Explaining Citizens' Environmental Ethics in the sublimity of the environment: Providing a Conceptual Model

Document Type : .

Authors

• Najme Dashtaki ¹
• Hamid Majedi ²
• Farah Habib ³

¹ Ph.D. Student, Department of Urban Development, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

² .Professor, Department of Urban Development, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

³ .Professor, Department of Urban Development, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

10.30495/jupm.2021.3781

Abstract

Today, environmental crisis of cities is caused by material attitude of humans towards environmental system and consequently the wrong ethics of citizens facing it. While in Monotheistic Worldview, universe is a unified entity, with all beings moving and guiding in path of growth and sublimity, so that no purpose other than resurrection and return to God can be imagined for it. In this Worldview, citizens are not only responsible for just and trustworthy exploitation of environmental elements, but is also responsible for preservation, promotion and sublime progress of all the environmental elements to their own perfection and purpose of their creation.The purpose of this study is to explain role of citizens' environmental ethics in sublimity of environment based on Quranic teachings. In regard, qualitative content analysis method is used to analyze ethical statements of Holy Quran. The interpretation used in this study was interpretation of Al-Mizan and coding, classification and categorization of selected texts is done by ATLAS.ti software. In total, 590 codes were extracted from ethical statements related to research subject, which was reduced to 113 after removing similar codes. Remaining codes were categorized into 23 components and 7 categories and finally, in three dimensions final model derived from results of qualitative content analysis was presented. model proposed is excellence of citizens 'environmental ethics based on the interpretation of the paradigm, in which three dimensions of citizens' divine worldview, Orientation towards perfection, and actions of citizens in context of divine laws are emphasized and expected to lead to attitude.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
The increasing urbanization population is increasing the demand of citizens for the utilization of bio-resources and it seems that the environmental crisis in the current cities is due to the ethical crisis of the citizens. One of the oldest branches of applied ethics is environmental ethics. The most fundamental question about environmental ethics is what creatures have a moral value and a right? In response to this fundamental question, a variety of environmental ethical theories have emerged that generally address three anthropogenic, biocentric and biocentric approaches. In the anthropocentric approach, humans are the most important part of life and they value nature as a tool; in this approach, citizens define environmental rights within their own rights. By rejecting environmental ethics in the human-centered approach, biomedical approaches and biomedical approaches were promoted. The biomedical approach holds that all forms of life must be given ethical consideration. In this approach most citizens are reluctant to give up their interests to other citizens, especially in the material sphere, let alone abandon their interests to other living things. Therefore, the enforcement of good citizenship behavior against other living beings is questionable. The ecosystem-based approach is holistic and considers the intrinsic value of all ecosystem components. In this approach, the environmental citizen feels responsible with a holistic and holistic view of the whole environment. The environmental citizen based on this approach, of course, has been criticized for its ambiguous meaning of bias, various descriptions, slippery, inconsistent and incompatible. From the Quran's point of view, environmental ethics must be such that it promotes environmental Sublimity. In this regard, the first step in realizing the growth of all beings is to understand the true ultimate and discover the path of their transcendence, accepting the transcendence of environmental elements, modifying the moral approach of man in the face of it. In monotheistic thought, the center of the intrinsic value of morality is God-centered. The existence of spiritual ends and the glorification of environmental elements are other factors that make moral values ​​divine and spiritual in nature and cause them to differ from other teleological ethics.
Methodology:
The research method is qualitative content analysis. In this research, we have tried to use explicit content, the direct use of the verses, as well as the hidden content, which includes the text of the interpretation. ATLAS-ti software was used to analyze the interpretation of the text. The steps of the research method are as follows:
Step One - Identifying Subject-Related Verses, Searching for Interpretation, and Extracting It in Word Software, Step 2 - Primary Coding of the Concepts Selected in Versatile Interpretation and Identifying Sub-Components, Step 3; Fourth, Component Classification and Access to Topics, Step 5; Classifying Components and Key Dimensions, Step 6 - Overview, Deleting Similarities, Creating a Network Perspective on Main Dimensions, Categories, Components, and Achieving the Research Model.
Results and discussion:
Based on the qualitative analysis steps of the research subject, 590 codes (sub-components) were extracted at the open coding stage, which was reduced to 106 codes after removing the same codes, to 23 components at the selected coding stage, and to 7 categories in the final stages. Finally, they were categorized into three dimensions. The analysis of the findings is based on the following steps:
Divine Worldview and Citizens' Environmental Ethics: In this worldview, God is the true environmentalist, and it is the monotheistic view of citizens that enhances his triple relationship with God, society, and the environment. the environmental system is linked to a system beyond what can be called "spiritual principles" and has intrinsic sacred value. Such a worldview enables citizens to view environmental elements from a divine perspective. Therefore, the citizen with a monotheistic worldview considers all environmental elements to be of a sacred, purposeful, and measurable nature with an inextricable link between all its elements, and consequently places himself in charge of conscious ethics within the context of monotheistic Sublimity. Tendency toward Perfection in Environmental Citizenship Ethics: There are three types of materialistic, selfish, social-philanthropic and biocultural trends in which citizens commit themselves to these trends. But in the spiritual sense the purpose of ethics is to bring the citizen to perfection. In Islamic thought for divine creatures, there is a spark of "perfectionism" and "perfectionism" and reaching God as the desired perfection. All environmental elements, without the need for human perception, have developed their own self-sufficiency, and citizens, as God's successor on earth, need to satisfy their vital needs of the environmental system that God has mocked. But this mockery of the environmental system does not mean that it makes any conception of it; it must transcend not only itself, but also the elements of the environment, by adapting its ethics to divine nature. Therefore, if the citizen's tendency towards the perfection of Islam is desired, then all the inherent talents of the environmental elements will be fully transcended and on the other hand, the citizen as the caliph of Allah will best exploit it in the pursuit of interstate justice and on the path to perfection. It also meets its human needs.
Environmental actions and behaviors of citizens within the framework of divine laws: When the moral system is within the framework of the monotheistic system, the action of the citizens becomes competent, and as the act becomes justified, it agrees with the universal system of the universe, and all existent phenomena, including the environment, are in the path of Sublimity.
Conclusion:
The expectation that environmental system will spontaneously be on the path to Sublimity is unreasonable, because without ethics, it is impossible to transcend the environmental system and today it can be seen in the unstable environment of the current cities. This instability indicates that even the eco-centered approach, as the best approach of Western environmental ethics, has failed to overcome the sense of self-interest arising from the dominant attitude of citizens in exploiting the environmental system. Therefore, to move in the direction of environmental Sublimity, the ethical system of citizens must be changed. The change that results in changes in worldviews, attitudes and behaviors of citizens within the monotheistic system that lead citizens to believe that the creation system is created as a good system for environmental elements and that citizens as divine successors on earth have a responsibility to protect, They have optimal utilization, development and development, so that these investments do not prevent the movement to the perfection and Sublimity of environmental elements. It seems that such an approach to environmental citizenship ethics can provide a context for presenting environmental Sublimity in the Islamic city in question.
Keywords: Citizens' Environmental Ethics, Sublimity, Environment, Conceptual Model, ATLAS.ti.

Keywords

• Citizens' environmental ethics
• Sublimity
• The environment
• Conceptual Model
• ATLAS.ti

20.1001.1.22285229.1400.12.44.10.2

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