As raízes da crise ambiental : uma leitura a partir da dialética do esclarecimento

Abstract

The environmental crisis is one of the phenomena with the greatest social impact of contemporary times, and in view of its dimension, several political and social institutions have emerged with the objective of getting around and overcoming the difficulties imposed by the environmental problem. With this view, the present essay seeks to investigate the origins of the environmental crisis from the theoretical matrix of the first generation of the Frankfurt School - specifically from the work Dialectic of enlightenment by Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer. The choice of the perspective of Critical Theory takes into account a holistic and interdisciplinary position that seeks, ultimately, to transcend the narrow views of the institutes of Environmental Law as the only instruments - in addition to the green market - to mediate the relationship between man and nature. Thus, the development of a philosophical perspective on the origins of the environmental crisis contributes to becoming aware of the real agents causing the crisis and, consequently, to develop more effective instruments in its control. For that, the adopted methodology chose the qualitative research, and as a procedure the bibliographical review of the work Dialectic of enlightenment; as well as a wide range of environmental and legal commentators and researchers. The research confirmed the hypothesis that the origin of the environmental crisis rests on an epistemological crisis - originated from man’s own fear for all otherness and the principle of identity, which crystallizes as an instrumental reason. It is in view of this that Environmental Law is re-dimensioned as an instrument that, while vital to environmental regulation, is not in itself enough to control or even eliminate the crisis; which would require a review of the very foundations of enlightened thinking.