The Ethical Relationship Between Humans - Plants in the Ethics of Responsibility Hans Jonas and Lulik in East Timor

Abstract

The development of science and technology has significantly increased human capacity to control and transform nature, including plants. However, this power is often exercised within an anthropocentric framework that treats plants merely as economic resources, neglecting their intrinsic value and the long-term ecological and moral responsibilities owed to future generations. This contributes to both the global ecological crisis and a growing ethical crisis in human–plant relationships. This study critically examines the ethics of responsibility developed by Hans Jonas and the concept of lulik in Timorese culture, exploring how they understand the relationship between humans, plants, nature, and the sacred. Using a philosophical-normative approach grounded in hermeneutic analysis and critical dialogue between contemporary moral philosophy and traditional moral systems, the research evaluates the potential of integrating these perspectives into a contextual and sustainable plant ethics. The findings reveal that Jonas’s ethics provides a strong normative foundation for environmental ethics but remains insufficiently engaged with living, practice-based non-Western moral traditions. Conversely, lulik, which regulates relationships among humans, nature, and the sacred through customary norms, moral sanctions, and ecological prudence, has not yet been systematically explored as a source of normative ethics in contemporary philosophy. As its main contribution, the study proposes an innovative synthesis that recognizes lulik as a legitimate ethical system rather than merely a cultural or spiritual expression. This framework develops a plant ethics that affirms the intrinsic value of plants, defines humans as guardians of life, and emphasizes intergenerational and cosmic moral responsibility, thereby enriching environmental ethics within the cultural context of Timor-Leste and the global world.