In his thesis on ‘Franciscan Ecology,’ Friar Jonathan Garcia Zenteno presents ecological science as a relationship. “If Franciscan ecology conceives ecological science as relationship and embraces all beings in reality, is everything in relationship for Franciscan ecology? Or if there were no relationship in nature, would there be no ecology?”
To answer these questions, Friar Jonathan defines the word Panecology.
Etymological Definition of Panecology
… the term Panecology, etymologically speaking, is broken down as follows:
-Pan (from the Greek language πᾶν), means all/whole/every. In the course of history, we can find various characters who speak about this term and each of them provides us with an explanation according to the approach from which it is being addressed. As Ferrater Mora reminds us quoting the Stagirite philosopher:
“Aristotle calls a all/whole/every, in the first place, that in which none of its constituent parts is missing and, secondly, that which contains its component parts in such a way that they form a unity. This unity can be of two kinds: 1) The component parts are, in turn, units. 2) The unity is the resultant of the whole of the parts”[1].
[1] Ferrater Mora, José, Diccionario de Filosofía, Ed. Sudamericana Buenos Aires, 1964, p. 800.
-Echo (it is a word from the Latin language which in turn is taken from the Greek οἶκος), meaning house. This is the space where the rational being, who is the image and likeness of the Other, carries out his relations with others. It must therefore be understood as the temporal space that is useful to man in order to go out to meet others and arouse good with them. This good is not a product of himself, but the result of that mysterium tremendum which he has attained with the Supreme Good.
In part two, we will learn the meaning of ‘Logos’ and complete the definition of ‘panecology.’
