Active ecological citizenship: A dialogue between Aristotle and Laudato Si'

Abstract

This article proposes a philosophical-theological dialogue between Aristotelian political philosophy and Pope Francis's encyclical Laudato Si', with the aim of grounding the category of "active ecological citizenship" as an integral response to the contemporary environmental crisis. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Laudato Si' and the eight-hundredth anniversary of Saint Francis of Assisi's Canticle of the Creatures, it is argued that the ecological crisis is not merely a technical or environmental problem, but rather a profound political crisis, understood as the failure of the political community to orient itself toward the common good. Drawing on the Aristotelian concepts of zoôn politikón (ζῷον πολιτικόν), polis (πόλις), eudaimonía (εὐδαιμονία), and the common good (τὸ κοινὸν ἀγαθόν), reinterpreted through the lens of the integral ecology proposed in Laudato Si', the convergences and tensions between both traditions are analyzed. As a result, the category of active ecological citizenship is proposed, understood as a form of political participation oriented toward the care of our Common Home, environmental justice, the preferential option for the poor, and intergenerational solidarity.