Bahai Philosophy and the Question of the Environment

necessity is itself the particular reflection of nature as a divine reality at the level of human

beings. The sacredness of nature requires a rejection of the mechanistic logic of reducing human

action to material and selfish nature. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá makes it clear that while human obsession

with animalistic impulses constitutes evil, there is nothing evil in an animal’s pursuit of its

natural inclinations: “All sin comes from the demands of nature, and these demands which arise

from the physical qualities, are not sins with respect to the animals, while for man they are sin.”

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It is obvious from these three principles that human beings, characterized by self-

consciousness and the ability for cultural and scientific development, have a unique potentiality

and mission with respect to the natural environment. This affirmation of their higher station and

potentiality does not imply the justification of domination and destruction of other species but

precisely the opposite: As the embodiment of all divine attributes and endowed with higher

potentialities, human beings must realize those potentialities, become progressively more caring,

altruistic, and spiritual, and attain a higher degree of unity and harmony with all beings. That the

human being is the “image” of God is no less than a call for human care and responsibility

towards all creatures. It is in fact only when we recognize the reality of human transcendence

from empirical nature that we can discover the ability and the mission of human beings to protect

the environment. In contrast, the denial of human uniqueness can easily turn into a materialistic

definition of human nature which legitimizes domination and destruction of both nature and

culture.

It is for this reason that Bahá’u’lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas has criticized the hedonistic

conception of freedom, arguing that authentic human freedom is inseparable from human

commitment to spiritual and cultural values and principles. He affirms: “We approve of liberty in

certain circumstances, and refuse to sanction it in others. We verily, are the All-Knowing. Say:

True liberty consisteth in man’s submission unto My commandments, little as ye know it. Were

men to observe that which We have sent down unto them from the Heaven of Revelation, they

would , of certainty, attain unto perfect liberty.”

We can conclude that the Bahá’í thesis of the transcendental character of human nature

is another expression of the principle of the harmony of nature and culture. That is also

compatible with the fact that in the Bahá’í writings for the first time a truly “organic” conception

of nature and culture has been suggested. Although, as mentioned earlier, the premodern

conceptions of nature and culture were also organic, they were in fact only partially organic. The

premodern view emphasized the interconnectedness of all beings but lacked a historical and