Protection of the Earth as a Unique Life Form
Philosophical and Legal Analysis in the Context of the Pandemic
Keywords:
Philosophy of Law, Gaia, Biosphere, Noosphere, EcocentricismAbstract
The article presents a philosophical and legal analysis of the concept of the Earth as a living organism in the context of modern international environmental law. The article argues for the need for a fundamental rethinking of the environmental law concept in terms of the global environmental and pandemic crises on the basis of an in-depth study of the Gaia hypothesis of James Lovelock, the concepts of the biosphere and noosphere proposed by Vladimir Vernadsky as well as the ideas of Lynn Margulis, Dorion Sagan and other authors. The emphasis is placed on the philosophical aspects of international and national law related to the transition from the anthropocentric to the ecocentric paradigm. It is substantiated that it is necessary to recognize the Earth as a unique life form having its own interests and value that do not depend on man. The authors note that the coronavirus pandemic, the climate crisis and other global challenges require the international community to form a new philosophical and legal paradigm based on respect for the integrity of the biosphere and the understanding of the interdependence of man and nature.
References
Álvarez-Rondón, C.C. «Derechos de la naturaleza en Colombia: dispositivos e instrumentos de gestión ambiental de la administración pública desde una perspectiva de innovación» DIXI, 27, 2025, 1-16.
Arling, H. «International Rights of Nature – a Paradigm Shift in International Law» https://ecojurisprudence.org/international-rights-of-nature-a-paradigm-shift-in-international-law/
Bakhtinov, A.P. «Influence of the environment on the health of people and animals and their reproduction» Yearbook of the Research Institute of Fundamental and Applied Research, 3, 2012, 92-93.
Barkova, E.V. «Ecophilosophical picture of the world in the problematic field of modern knowledge» Bulletin of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, 4, 2016, 180-186.
Bebeshko, V.G. et al. «Radiological and medical consequences of the Chernobyl disaster» Radiation hygiene, 5-1, 2012, 5-12.
Cardozo, D.E., Salles, A.A. «Animal Rights Theory from the Legal and Bioethical Perspectives» Derecho Animal (Forum of Animal Law Studies), 10/3, 2019, 30-46.
Commoner, B. «The closing circle: nature, man, technology» Leningrad: Hydrometeoizdat, 1974.
Dmitrieva, N.V. «Current state of the issue of the nature – human – society relationship: socio-philosophical analysis» Bulletin of Saratov State Technical University, 1-1, 2012, 170-175.
Gare, A. «Ethics, Philosophy and the Environment» Cosmos and History, 14, 3, 2018, 219-240.
Gare, A. «From ‘Sustainable Development’ to ‘Ecological Civilization’: Winning the War for Survival» Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy, 13, 3, 2017, 130-153.
Gorshkov V.G. et al. «Environment: from new technologies to new thinking» Green world, 19, 1994, 1-27.
Horton, R., Selina, L. «Planetary Health: A new science for exceptional action» The Lancet, 386, 10007, 2015.
International Environmental Law: Textbook / Managing Editor R.M. Valeev. Moscow: Statut, 2012.
Kim, R.E. «Taming Gaia 2.0: Earth system law in the ruptured Anthropocene» The Anthropocene Review, 9, 3, 2022, 299-590.
Kopytin, A., Gare, A. «Ecopoiesis: A Manifesto for Ecological Civilization» Ecopoiesis: eco-human theory and practice, 4, 1, 2023, 6-17.
Kosenok A. «Five Years of COVID-19: the Harm Caused by the Pandemic» https://www.vedomosti.ru/society/articles/2024/11/17/1075417-kak-navredila-pandemiya-i-borba-s-nei?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Litfin, K. «Gaia Theory: Intimations for Global Environmental Politics» Handbook of Global Environmental Politics. Editor: P. Dauvergne. Elgaronline, 2005, 502-517.
Lovelock, J.E. «Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth» Oxford University Press, 1979.
Lovelock, J. «The Age of Gaia A biography Our Living Earth» New York; London: Norton, Cop., 1988.
Lovelock, J. «The Revenge of Gaia: Earth's climate in crisis and the fate of humanity» New York: Basic Books, 2006.
Maldonado, D.B. «El constitucionalismo radical ambiental y la diversidad cultural en América Latina. Los derechos de la naturaleza y el buen vivir en Ecuador y Bolivia Revista Derecho del Estado, 42, 2019, 3-23.
Margulis, L. «Early Life» Science Books International, 1982.
Margulis, L. «Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Microbial Evolution» University of California Press, 1997.
Margulis, L. «Symbiotic planet: a new look at evolution» New York: Basic Books, 2000.
Margulis, L., Sagan, D. «Microcosmos: four billion years of evolution from our microbial Ancestors» New York: Summit Books, 1986.
Margulis, L., Sagan, D. «Gala and Philosophy» Silver Press, 2024.
Margulis, L., Sagan, D. «Slanted Truths. Essays on Gaia, Symbiosis and Evolution» Copernicus, 1997.
Margulis, L., Sagan, D., Niles, E. «What is life?» New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
Mogilevskaya T.E. et al. «Influence of ecology on human health as an urgent issue of modern times» The youth and science, 12, 2019, 19-24.
Naess, A. «Culture and Environment» Trumpeter, 21-1, 2005, 53-56.
Naess, A. «The Basics of Deep Ecology» Trumpeter, 21-1, 2005, 68-70.
Netesov, S. «Coronavirus of CoViD-19: where it comes from and what to expect from it» Kommersant, 24.03.2020.
Paola, M.D., Jamieson, D. «Climate Change and the Challenges to Democracy» University of Miami Law Review, 72, 2018, 369-424.
Rozanov, L.L. «Subject-object essence of medical geoecology» Scientific dialog, 7, 2012, 20-24.
Ruuska, T., Heikkurinen, P., Levasseur, T., Gare, A. «Redefining Violence for the Anthropocene: From Ecocide to Ecological Civilization» Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy, 20, 2, 2024, 56-76.
Sagan, D. «James Lovelock, Gaia, and the Remembering of Biological Being» https://technophany.philosophyandtechnology.network/announcement/view/158#:~:text=thermodynamic%20system%20away%20from%20chemical,there%2C%20replenishing%20its%20reactive%20compounds
Sakamoto M. et al. «Assessing the role of selenium in Minamata disease through reanalysis of historical samples» Environment International. 195, 2025, 109242.
Schweitzer, A. «А reverence for life» Moscow: Progress, 1992.
Serafin, R. «Vernadsky's Biosphere, Teilhard's Noosphere, and Lovelock's Gaia: Perspectives on Human Intervention in Global Biogeochemical Cycles» IIASA Working Paper. IIASA, LLaxenburg, Austria, 1987.
Shimbun, M. «50 years of official recognition of itai-itai disease» https://inosmi.ru/history/20180512/242204685.html
Shulga, E.N. «Ecophilosophy and the symbolic world of nature: the issue of interpretation» Logos et Praxis, 17, 1, 2018, 22-31.
Stoa, R. «Droughts, Floods, and Wildfires: Paleo Perspectives on Disaster Law in the Anthropocene» Georgetown International Environmental Law Review, 27, 2015, 393-446.
Stone, C.D. «Should Trees Have Standing? Toward Legal Rights for Natural Objects» Southern California Law Review, 45, 2, 1972, 450-501.
Stutzin, G. «Nature’s Rights: Justice Requires that Nature Be Recognised as a Legal Entity» Resurgence & Ecologist, 210, 2002.
Tucker, M.E., Grim, J. «Thomas Berry and the Rights of Nature» Kosmos, 19, 4, 2019.
Turchin, M.B. «Ecophilosophical methodology as a constructing factor of the radical ecologism school» Humanitarian Newsletter of the Zaporizhzhya State Engineering Academy, 47, 2011, 105-113.
Vernadsky, V.I. «Biosphere: monograph» Leningrad: Scientific Chemical Technological Publishing House, 1926.
Vernadsky, V.I. «Philosophical Thoughts of a Naturalist» Moscow: Academic Project, 2024.
Vernadsky, V.I. «Scientific Thought as a Planetary Phenomenon» Moscow: Nauka, 1991.
Vernadsky, V.I. «The Biosphere and the Noosphere» Moscow: Airis-Press, 2013.
Wang G. et al. «Mitigate the effects of home confinement on children during the COVID-19 outbreak» Lancet, 395, 2020, 945-947.
Watts, J. «Bruno Latour: 'This is a global catastrophe that has come from within» The Guardian, 2020, 6 Jun.
Willis, D.J. «Ecophilosophy and Natural Law» Journal of Energy, Natural Resources & Environmental Law, 12, 2, 1992, 419-452.
Yablokov, A.V., Nesterenko, V.B., Nesterenko, A.V. «Chernobyl: consequences of the disaster for man and nature» Saint Petersburg: Nauka, 2007.
Zotova, E.M. «Influence of climate change on infectious diseases of animals» In: Current issues of infectious pathology and biotechnology: proceedings of the 12th International Student Scientific Conference Ulyanovsk: Ulyanovsk State Agrarian University, 2019.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Alexey Anisimov, Anatoliy Ryzhenkov
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
