Rethinking the Human-Nature Relationship in Times of Crisis: The Enduring Relevance of the Living Organism Model from Hegel to Hans Jonas

This paper examines the Romantic-Idealist conception of the living organism and its relevance to Hans Jonas’s philosophical biology. Beginning with Kant and tracing developments through Schelling, the Romantics, and Hegel, it reconstructs a model of organic life shaped by the scientific and philosophical debates around 1800. Particular attention is given to affinities between Hegel’s account of the organism and Romantic biocentric metaphysics, challenging interpretations that foreground their opposition while preserving their theoretical differences. The paper then identifies features of this model that reappear in Jonas’s organism-centred ontology of nature, which underpins his ethics of responsibility toward nature and future generations. By exploring these conceptual continuities, the study highlights the enduring philosophical significance of the Romantic and Idealist legacy for understanding the relationship between organic and inorganic nature and between humanity and the natural world. It argues that this legacy offers resources for contemporary ecological and ethical reflection, particularly for rethinking humanity’s place within nature in response to environmental crisis.