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Jonas's Quest for a Path to Reconcile the Rift between Humans and Nature

Dongdong Zhang, Xiaodong Wang
Scientific Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, (2026), Vol.8, No.4, pp.256-270
Published: May 17, 2026
DOI: 10.54691/rmkeq797
PDF: Download Full Text PDF
Abstract

The relationship between humans and nature is a timeless topic of human concern. How we understand this issue affects our values and actions, which in turn impact our sustainable development. The dualism of subject and object, introduced by Descartes, triggered a significant movement in the history of thought that highlighted human subjectivity. However, it also created a split between the material and the spiritual, disrupting the harmony between humans and nature. Hans Jonas, a responsible philosopher of the 20th century, critiqued the nihilistic elements of Gnosticism and contemporary existentialism to diagnose the roots of the crisis between humans and nature. He developed a life philosophy that emphasizes life as the highest good, aiming to find a new path that reconciles the rift between humans and nature.

Keywords: Human and nature; reconcile; life philosophy.
APA Citation: Dongdong Zhang, Xiaodong Wang (2026). Jonas's Quest for a Path to Reconcile the Rift between Humans and Nature. Scientific Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 8(4), 256-270. https://doi.org/10.54691/rmkeq797

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