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specific to their field of study with interaction with other disciplines. According to Gutiérrez (2011,
p. 13), "transdisciplinary planning is seen as an expedient way for teaching Environmental Edu-
cation in the university context, promoting understanding rather than memorization when facing
real-world situations."
The teaching practice in Environmental Education involves internalizing the social, historical, of-
ficial, and technological context in which one is immersed to understand the influence that
theory might have within that context and to guide relevant action through practice. This high-
lights the importance of the hypothesis as a fundamental element for problem-solving in every-
day life, which implies the scientific analysis of human history.
It is in this context that the transdisciplinary approach can contribute to the search for a new
educational trend based on the four (4) fundamental pillars: learning to know, learning to do,
learning to live together, and learning to be, as outlined in the Unesco Delors Report. All four
types of learning are important in the educational process of the sciences. However, special
emphasis should be placed on learning to BE for teaching Environmental Education at the uni-
versity level.
Philosophy of the Presocratics
The Presocratics, known in the history of ancient philosophy as pre-Platonic and pre-Aristotelian
philosophers, were the earliest thinkers of the Western world who initiated philosophical dis-
course. Their most prominent representatives include: Thales of Miletus (640-545 BCE), Anaxi-
mander of Miletus (610/11-547 BCE), Anaximenes of Miletus (585-528/5 BCE), Xenophanes of
Colophon (570-470 BCE), Heraclitus of Ephesus (6th-5th century BCE), Pythagoras of Samos,
Alcmaeon of Croton, Parmenides (540-450 BCE) of Elea, Zeno of Elea (464/41 BCE), Melissus of
Samos, Empedocles of Agrigento (492/90-435 BCE), Philolaus of Croton, Archytas of Tarentum,
Anaxagoras (499-428 BCE), Leucippus of Abdera, and Democritus of Abdera (460-370 BCE).
"Everything is One and the same," a principle coined by the Greeks, applies to Homo sapiens
and all species cohabiting on planet Earth. Thales of Miletus (640-545 BCE), considered one of
the seven sages, was the first to delve into natural philosophy (Eggers & Juliá, 1978, p. 64).
Thales did not completely detach from myth but stated that water is the principle and end of
all things, attributing a natural element to the expression of physis.
With Thales, it is evident that since the beginning of time, a harmonious relationship has linked
man with nature, indicating that the reflection on what things are and what they are made of
has been based on the cosmos and its components, including humans.
Thus, by reasoning about the foundation that makes each thing what it is, man manages to
appropriate known elements: water, air, earth, and fire. This reflective discovery indicates a per-
manent dialogue between man and nature, between the essence of things and the interaction
of common values observed and understood.