Deep ecology
environmental philosophy
WRITTEN BY
Peter Madsen
Senior Lecturer in Counselling and Psychotherapy, University of Central Lancashire. He contributed several articles to SAGE Publications’ Encyclopedia of Governance (2007), which served as the...
See Article History
Deep ecology, environmental philosophy and social movement based in the belief that humans must radically change their relationship to nature from one that values nature solely for its usefulness to human beings to one that recognizes that nature has an inherent value. Sometimes called an “ecosophy,” deep ecology offers a definition of the self that differs from traditional notions and is a social movement that sometimes has religious and mystical undertones. The phrase originated in 1972 with Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess, who, along with American environmentalist George Sessions, developed a platform of eight organizing principles for the deep ecology social movement. Deep ecology distinguishes itself from other types of environmentalism by making broader and more basic philosophical claims about metaphysics, epistemology, and social justice.
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Human action has triggered a vast cascade of environmental problems that now threaten the continued ability of both natural and human systems to flourish. Solving the critical environmental problems of global warming, water scarcity, pollution, and biodiversity loss are perhaps the greatest challenges of the 21st century. Will we rise to meet them?
A Focus On The Biosphere
Conservationism, protectionism, the science of ecology, and deep ecology are some of the major components in the political and ethical movement of environmentalism. Deep ecologists often contrast their own position with what they refer to as the “shallow ecology” of other environmentalists. They contend that the mainstream ecological movement is concerned with various environmental issues (such as pollution, overpopulation, and conservation) only to the extent that those issues have a negative effect on an area’s ecology and disrupt human interests. They argue that anthropocentrism, a worldview that contains an instrumentalist view of nature and a view of humanity as the conqueror of nature, has led to environmental degradation throughout the world, and thus it should be replaced with ecocentric (ecology-centred) or biocentric (life-centred) worldviews, where the biosphere becomes the main focus of concern.
The Role Of The Ecological Self
During the early 1970s, Naess suggested that the environmentalist movement needed to do much more than conserve and protect the environment. He held that a radical reevaluation of the understanding of human nature was needed. In particular, he claimed that environmental degradation was likely due to a conception of the human self that had been ill defined in the past. Naess argued that the individual is cut off from others and their surrounding world when the self is seen as a solitary and independent ego among other solitary and independent egos. That separation leads to the pitfalls of anthropocentrism and environmental degradation. He believed that a new understanding of the self (called “self-realization”) was needed.”
According to deep ecology, the self should be understood as deeply connected with and as part of nature, not disassociated from it. Deep ecologists often call that conception of human nature the “ecological self,” and it represents humans acting and being in harmony with nature, not in opposition to it. According to Naess, when the ecological self is realized, it will recognize and abide by the norms of an environmental ethic that will end the abuses of nature that typify the traditional self, which is trapped in anthropocentric attitudes. Moreover, the ecological self will practice a “biocentric egalitarianism,” in which each natural entity is held as being inherently equal to every other entity.
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“The Deep Ecology Platform”
In 1984 Naess and Sessions devised an eight-point statement, or platform, for deep ecology. The statement was offered not as a rigid or dogmatic manifesto but rather as a set of fairly general principles that could help people articulate their own deep ecological positions. It was also meant to serve as a guide toward the establishment of a deep ecology movement.
The eight points of the platform for deep ecology posit:
1. “The well-being and flourishing of human and nonhuman life on Earth have value in themselves…. These values are independent of the usefulness of the nonhuman world for human purposes.”
2. “Richness and diversity…contribute to the realization of these values and are also values in themselves.”
3. “Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vital needs.”
4. “Present human interference with the nonhuman world is excessive, and the situation is rapidly worsening.”
5. “The flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a substantial decrease of the human population. The flourishing of nonhuman life requires such a decrease.”
6. “Policies must therefore be changed…[to] affect basic economic, technological, and ideological structures.…”
7. “The ideological change is mainly that of appreciating life quality…rather than adhering to an increasingly higher standard of living.…”
8. “Those who subscribe to the foregoing points have an obligation directly or indirectly to participate in the attempt to implement the necessary changes.”
Currents Within The Social Movement
From its inception, deep ecology has had a loosely knit array of followers coming from such disparate groups as feminists (or “ecofeminists”), “social ecologists,” pacifists, mystics, and postmodernists. Each of those diverse groups has its own perspective of what deep ecology ought to be and in what directions it ought to proceed.
The ecofeminists, for example, claim that androcentrism (male-centredness), rather than anthropocentrism, is the true cause of the degradation of nature. They maintain that androcentrism as seen in traditional power-wielding patriarchal society is responsible for the striving to dominate nature. Just as males have always tried to dominate women, so too have they tried to make nature subservient and bend to its will..
In contrast, social ecologists hold that the problems of environmentalism are due to an authoritarian hierarchy that is also responsible for such ills as racism, sexism, and classism. They argue that problems such as global warming or species extinction are caused in the same way as social problems such as poverty and crime and can all be attributed to a social structure in which only some enjoy real power, while the majority remain powerless. They claim that environmental degradation will continue until such social conditions are addressed.
Critiques
Some critics of deep ecology claim that the movement is based on mysticism and that it appears to be more of a religion than a rational approach to environmental matters. Those critics point to the creation of the Church of Deep Ecology in Minnesota in 1991 as an example of how the movement had devolved into a spiritual and mystical approach to nature rather than a way to solve environmental problems..
Ecofeminists and social ecologists, groups having a great deal in common with deep ecologists, also found fault with the social movement. Some practitioners of ecofeminism and social ecology accused deep ecologists of having an inauthentic and superficial spirituality and not valuing issues of gender, class, and race highly enough.
Peter Madsen
