For Kant, philosophy culminates in the question: “What is the human being?” As a free being, the human should liberate himself from the constraints of nature and of his inclinations. Thus, Kant developed an ethics of universal scope; nature, however, was not part of morality.
Today human beings alter their natural environment to an unprecedented degree; at the same time, it is becoming increasingly clear how strongly they are embedded in the environment. In the late 20th century, ethical theories developed that also include nature. Can Kant’s ethics help us face the global ecological challenge – and where does it reach its limits?