Professor Philippe Descola, a distinguished anthropologist, has conducted rigorous fieldwork among indigenous people living in Amazonia, South America. On the basis of his findings, he challenged the anthropocentric thoughts then prevailing in the Western world, and proposed the “anthropology of nature,” which considers nature and culture in an integrated manner. His achievements eminently conform to the basic concept of the International Cosmos Prize, which promulgates the Harmonious Coexistence between Nature and Mankind.

Professor Descola, one of the world’s leading philosophers and anthropologists, has carried out intensive fieldwork regarding the coexistence of humans and nature in the communities of the Jivaroan Achuar in Amazonia, South America. The main resources of the Achuar people are slash-and-burn horticulture and hunting; they have settled in two different types of habitats: riverine and interfluvial. Taking advantage of these ecosystems, the Achuar have maintained the profound knowledge and practices handed down from their ancestors. Professor Descola conducted a thorough study and analysis of these assets. Transcending the boundaries of the anthropological monograph, he has explored the fundamental relationship between humans and nature as the “anthropology of nature,” from a global perspective, thereby establishing a new model regarding nature and culture.

Generally, agriculture is an activity that destroys primary nature in order to plant profitable cultivated species. However, the Achuar protect useful wild species before felling and burning a new swidden, transplant wild plants from the forest, and protect seedlings of wild plants that germinate from seeds carried in the feces of animals. Through these processes, the Achuar have formed a forest with a much greater variety of species than is found in pristine forests. In other words, Professor Descola proved that appropriate human intervention has helped maintain the ecosystems perpetually.

On the basis of his research findings, he came to feel that nature and culture should be considered in an integrated fashion, so focused his attention on the four ontologies. Under the conventional paradigm, relationships between the human and non-human worlds were classified, according to the presence or absence of interiority and physicality, into animism, naturalism, totemism and analogism. Professor Descola advocated the significance of integrating and sublating these four philosophical ontologies, which until then had been treated individually.

It is a known fact that, due to large-scale development and conversion of forests into farmland, Amazonia is in danger of rapidly losing its rich forest ecosystems and biodiversity, thereby jeopardizing the traditional lifestyles, and even the lives, of indigenous people who have lived in close interaction with these ecosystems. With similar crises taking place around the world, it has become urgently necessary to establish a philosophy for minimizing the destruction of natural environments and to enable humanity to survive in harmony with nature. Professor Descola points out that, to realize the harmonious coexistence of nature and humankind, we should reflect on Western mainstream thought that involves the divide between nature and culture, so as not to allow the ravaging of nature to become a negative legacy for future generations. He asserts that we should give consideration to the significance of symbiosis, rather than limit our relations with nature to technological and economic issues. The research results and notions of Professor Descola are deserving of global attention now and into the future.

Professor Philippe Descola has developed a philosophical concept based on the results of his fieldwork highlighting Amazonian indigenous people’s view of nature and their activities in interacting with nature. His achievements are deemed to have universality that can be applied to various parts of the world in addressing environmental challenges, which accords exactly with the basic concept of the International Cosmos Prize. Moreover, Professor Descola has sounded a warning against dichotomizing nature and culture. This is in line with the objective of The International Garden and Greenery Exposition, Osaka, Japan, 1990, an event that was aimed at promoting public awareness that humans are part of nature by integrating the Oriental view of nature into the garden expositions traditionally held in Western countries.