Initiated by Luk Bouckaert (Catholic University of Leuven) and Knut Ims (NHH Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen) the European SPES organized an international workshop entitled “Albert Schweitzer: A Guide for the Perplexed” in cooperation with ABC-Climont in September 15–18, 2023 in Climont, France.
The aim of the workshop was to recontextualize Albert Schweitzer’s eco-oriented ethics for our time—the Anthropocene. Albert Schweitzer formulated an experience-based foundation for ethics based on the principle of Reverence for Life (“Ehrfurcht vor dem Leben”), and that he hereby contributed to a pioneering eco-ethics that should be brought up to date for our time.
Schweitzer’s philosophy implies a new sense of authenticity no longer based on the modern ego-centric notion of autonomy but on the alter-centric notion of reverence for life. This foundational principle is conceived as an unconditional and inclusive respect for life in all its manifestations.
Presentations of the workshop were the following:
Luk Bouckaert (Catholic University of Leuven): The Ecological Person. Disclosing Nature as Thou
Chris Doude Van Troostwijk (Free University of Amsterdam): Albert Schweitzer: Taoism and Inventive Theology
Laszlo Zsolnai and Andras Ocsai (Corvinus University of Budapest): Schweitzer and Life-affirming Economics
Michael Thate (Princeton University): Ecological Attunement: Albert Schweitzer and the Scale Problem of Life
Knut Ims (NHH Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen): Deep Ecology and Reverence for Life
Sanjoy Mukherjee (Indian Institute of Management Shillong): The Deep Cultural, Intellectual and Spiritual Connection between Schweitzer and Rabindranath Tagore