La natura, entre l'esport i la guerravers una ètica de la responsabilitat

Resumen

This article proposes a dual approach to nature based on sport and war. Indeed, neither phenomenon can be separated from the scientific and technological progress brought by modernity. Coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the death of Alexander von Humboldt in 2009 – an anniversary that has been largely uncelebrated, overshadowed by the commemoration of the Darwin Year – we describe here the Humboldtian model of natural science, which formulates a global, unitarian vision of the natural world. If this path had been followed, Nature – extolled as a harmonious paradise – would probably not have suffered harm. Unfortunately, through a process in which pedagogy played an important role, nature suffered the ravages of the Romantic movements. Indeed, the pedagogic neonomadism inspired by Romanticism saw in Nature a perfect place for fostering life in the open air, the spirit of adventure and the practice of sport and, also, a scenario for carrying out premilitary exercises that ultimately favoured the outbreak of war and, more specifically, the two World Wars. In fact, sport and war underwent considerable development during the last century, thanks to a mechanistic view of life which assimilated the scientific and technical progress of modernity. Lastly, following the philosophy of Hans Jonas, we propose an ethics of responsibility so that the practice of sport – and activities in the natural environment in particular – abides by the principles of sustainability, without forgetting that a culture based on peace can be a good antidote to the belligerence inherent in any militarist outlook.