02/07/2026 09:00 - 11:10

HALL: Pola - A203

Contact: Balázs J.

Chair: Balázs J., Birtalan Á.

This panel invites scholars to explore the notion of bio-egalitarianism among humans, animals, and plants, as well as non-anthropocentric ethical approaches to life, in the context of traditional and modern religiosity.


The philosophical dynamic between humanity, nature, and the divine has been debated since Spinoza's formulation of Deus sive Natura. However, in contemporary scholarship, the academic exploration of religious environmentalism is often traced back to Lynn White's article in Nature, titled The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis (1967). White argues that ecological degradation was caused by the anthropocentric and instrumentalist evaluation of nature, attributed to Christian doctrine. While White's paper sparked decades of critique, the discourse generated by his essay highlighted the need to explore new moral frameworks in religion that could shift the relationship between humans and other species in a less anthropocentric direction.


Today, religious environmental ethics is a recognized multidisciplinary field, represented by researchers such as Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Allen Grim, among others, engaging questions such as:


• How can religious traditions relate to contemporary ideas such as environmentalism or conservationism?
• What historical and exemplary (textual or ritual) evidence indicates bio-egalitarian or non-anthropocentric narratives within religious traditions?
• How do contemporary religious specialists, influential figures, and their communities respond to ecological crises and the ethics of non-human life?
• How does religious practice adapt and transform in the light of new socio-environmental challenges, such as ecological degradation, consumerism, and capitalism?


This panel welcomes scholars from all disciplines to contribute their findings and research relating to one or more of these themes.