Lauren Schaaf- I and Thou

I write a lot about my experience and readings in environmental leadership and how it relates to the idea of beauty and philosophy in general. In a talk given by one of my classmates last night, she spoke of something we have covered: the difference between I and It and I and Thou. She argued that the environment must make that transition from It to Thou.

It is another object. It is something that is owned and used as a means to an end. In many ways, the environment is used as a means to an end for humanity financial gain. Over the past hundreds of years especially, it is clear that nature and the environment has been seen as something to be claimed, owned, and used by humans. In America, it was thought that the land was given to the Europeans by God and it was their right to buy it and build over it.

In today's society there is a movement to change this view and to see environment as a being instead. This is the transition to the I and Thou relationship. Seeing nature as its own entity that is an end in and of itself is so vital to respecting the environment. It is also interesting to note that It and Thou are not a continuum and something can only be an It or a Thou. This is a hard transition for humanity to make since we have spent so much time viewing it in 1 way and now must change our view of its purpose.

It is not impossible. For hundreds of years, African Americans were thought of as Its and now have earned their place as a Thou in most modern day societies. It is difficult though. Many people must have realizations that change how they interpret their relationship with nature and the purpose that it serves in our lives.