Showing posts with label Thomas Berry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thomas Berry. Show all posts

2023/12/06

Thomas Berry - Religions of India: Hinduism, Yoga, Buddhism -

Religions of India: Hinduism, Yoga, Buddhism - Thomas Berry


Religions of India: Hinduism, Yoga, Buddhism
By Thomas Berry


New York: Bruce-Macmillan, 1971.

Second Edition: Chambersburg, PA: Anima Books, 1992.

Since 1996 available from Columbia University Press.

This in-depth study explores the history and philosophy of India’s major religions, explaining clearly the development of Buddhism, Yoga, and Hinduism over the centuries. A complete glossary of terms is included, as well as an index and suggestions for further reading.

Review

"In clear, concise discussions of Hinduism, Yoga, and Buddhism, Thomas Berry sets forth the insights that have developed on the subcontinent and illustrates their significance for the religious and spiritual life of all mankind.... Recommended as a concise introduction for general readers." -- "Religious Studies Review"
From the Back Cover


The relevance of this book is enhanced rather than diminished by the years since its original publication. The human situation has become even more critical. We are moving from a period of industrial plundering of the planet into a more intimate way of relating to the planet. We can no longer violate the integrity of Earth without becoming a destructive force for both the surrounding world and for ourselves.


About the Author
Thomas Berry (1914-2009) established the History of Religions Program at Fordham University and, with Wm. Theodore de Bary, founded the Oriental Thought and Religion Seminar at Columbia University. He was also the former director of the Riverdale Center for Religious Research. Along with his book Buddhism, his major publications include The Dream of the Earth, The Great Work, Evening Thoughts, and The Universe Story, with Brian Swimme.



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Religions of India: Hinduism, Yoga, Buddhism
Thomas Berry
4.50
226 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971
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July 17, 2023
THE RENOWNED CATHOLIC PRIEST LOOKS POSITIVELY AT INDIAN RELIGION

Author Thomas Berry wrote in the Introduction to this 1971 book, 

“This study is concerned with the spiritual formation of man in the Asian world. This spiritual formation has provided the Asian peoples with a bond of communion between the divine and the human worlds; it has established the ideals of perfection toward which human life is directed; it has enabled Asian people to manage the human condition in a creative manner; it has inspired the arts and sciences that have characterized the Asian civilizations up to modern times. These spiritual traditions of Asia are so highly developed that they frequently attain a level that corresponds more with the higher mystical traditions of the West than with its ordinary levels of religious and moral life.

“Some traditions, such as Hinduism, are principally concerned with the response of man to divine reality and to the final consummation of human life within this divine reality. Others, such as Buddhism, are less attracted to religion in its ordinary manifestations; rather, they are immediately concerned with forming a spiritual life that will enable men to master the human condition and eventually attain total release from the sorrowful aspect of life. But whatever the point of emphasis, these sacred traditions have been the supreme dynamic forces in structuring the civilizations of Asia. They are all keenly aware of a transphenomenal dimension of reality, whether this be the Brahman of the Hindu, the Nirvana of the Buddhist, the Kaivalya experience of the Yogin, or the Tao of the Chinese.”

He adds, 

“There is no on, universal Asian religious or spiritual tradition. Neither is there any ideal norm of Asian spirituality, just as there is no ideal flower or ideal tree. This is simply the variety, at times an interrelation and derivation within the variety. Within the Asian traditions it is difficult to designate each of them as spiritual traditions in the same sense of the word. This is a serious problem in any study that includes the multiplicity of traditions within the same frame of reference. Indeed, at first sight there seems to be more contradiction than agreement within Asia. At times the Asian traditions differ more among themselves than the individual traditions of the West. The first step in a study of Oriental religions must be to accept the diversity of man’s spiritual traditions as historical fact.”

He summarizes, 
“India is still creating new forms of spirituality, as is seen in such moderns as Ramakrishna and Vivekananda, in Tagore and Gandhi. India develops every doctrine to its extreme implication. Even contradictory doctrines are pushed to their extremes without rejection of with alternative. This is the baffing element in any study of India. There is insistence on extreme immanence and extreme transcendence at the same time. The two, it is felt, implicate each other and finally identify with each other. Absolute immanence and absolute transcendence must eventually be the same. So with all oppositions. Extreme intellectualism exists in India along with extreme devotionalism; extreme sensualism, along with an unbelievable asceticism. There is no wish to extinguish one in favor of the other. There is a certain ease within these manifold, opposing traditions, a feeling that everything has its proper pace, that nothing should be excluded.”

He states,

 “Hinduism must be studied not as a fixed and integrated body of doctrines, but as a developing tradition that has changed considerably throughout the centuries and which is still changing in a creative direction. Everything in India makes sense in the light of this changing process. Nothing makes sense without it. To give lists of Hindu beliefs of descriptions of Hindu practices without identifying the period and area in which they took place is top present a static picture of something very different from, Hinduism as it has actually existed. The basic unity is the unity of a changing life process, not the unity of a fixed pattern.” (Pg. 4)

He observes, 

“Yoga is a spirituality rather than a religion. As a spirituality it has influenced the entire range of Indian religious and spiritual development... Yoga is counted as one of the six thought systems of Hinduism. Yet before studying Yoga in this specific sense it is important to consider Yoga as an all-pervading element of Indian spirituality. Although Yoga is considered an inner discipline associated with special techniques of spiritual development leading to man’s release from the bonds of the phenomenal order, there is a great variety of yogic practices in India. There are the practices associated especially with the classical Hindu quest for intuitive vision, with Buddhism and Jainism, and with the devotional cults.” (Pg. 75)

He observes, 

“Historically Yoga has been associated with almost all phases of religious development in India from the earliest period until the present. It is true, however, that in its own structure Yoga represents a type of spiritual orientation that is barren in the ordinary terms of religion. There is no religious worship or prayer as such; there is no priesthood; there is nothing that can be identified as sacraments. There is simply the salvation discipline leading to an ineffable experience wherein the spiritual principle in man attains a blissful status beyond all affliction of the physical, emotional, and thought realms in which human life is lived within space and time. Yoga is primarily, then, a spiritual discipline leading to a salvation experience.” (Pg. 108)

He explains,

 “The entire world of change was experienced as an endless cycle of sorrow---birth, death, and rebirth. The solution of the problem of suffering was, most generally, an inner withdrawal that would remove man from the dense and destructive world of change. By the unfolding of man into his deepest self-identity the escape could be achieved. A man could remove himself from the world of nature, of matter, of mind, of thought, of consciousness, into an experience beyond all this. Alienated from himself, man must return to himself. Dispersed into a fragmented existence, man must restore the oneness of his being. Confined within a cyclic time process, man must recover his eternal status. Above all, movement must give way to quiescence. This is the mark of the eternal, the beginning of bliss. Because of this painful experience of the world of change a palpable tension is found within all the Indian traditions, an inner pressure exerted against all structured forms of existence. This spiritual dynamic sent forth incalculable numbers of people in India into the homeless life… Man needed to go into the homeless state of mind, the stage wherein the mind passed beyond itself... beyond its own conscious awareness.” (Pg. 121)

He observes, “Among the extraordinary achievements of Buddhism was the development of an explicit self-awareness of the Buddhist developmental process. This is not fond in Hinduism, nor is it found in Confucianism, nor indeed in any of the other major traditions of the Eurasian world except Christianity. This is not to say that these other traditions did not experience a developmental process; it is to say that they do not have a full understanding or explicated doctrine of development. There was in these other traditions a commitment to the earlier phase of the tradition, the original scriptures, as the basic norm for the later development.” (Pg. 182)

He concludes,

 “Hinduism, Y0oga and Buddhism are no longer merely Indian traditions, they are world traditions. India has lost forever its exclusive claim on these traditions. Now they are part of the universal human heritage; even the creative aspect of these traditions is no longer an exclusive concern of India. Mankind is now an integral part of the Indian spiritual process.” (Pg. 193) He adds, “The doctrine of constant change and development establishes the basis on which the present vital changes can take place within these traditions. One could say that at the present time these traditions are developing more profoundly and more soundly than they have developed for centuries. They are entering into a new phase of their existence, a new phase of significance not only for the societies that have in the past been associated with and guided by these traditions but for the entire world of man. All can now benefit from these traditions and can give to these traditions both a new challenge and new strength to fulfill a wider role than they have thus far envisaged for themselves.” (Pg. 200-201)

This book will be of keen interest to students of comparative religion.

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Tony Desantis
62 reviews
1 follower

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May 3, 2015
The sections on Hinduism and yoga ware quite complex. you'll need to take notes to remember everything.

The section on Buddhism was very interesting, in that many of the stories about Buddha seem to parallel stories about Jesus.

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2023/05/31

Deep ecology - Wikipedia

Deep ecology - Wikipedia

Deep ecology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Deep ecology is an environmental philosophy that promotes the inherent worth of all living beings regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs, and the restructuring of modern human societies in accordance with such ideas.

Deep ecology argues that the natural world is a complex of relationships in which the existence of organisms is dependent on the existence of others within ecosystems. It argues that non-vital human interference with or destruction of the natural world poses a threat therefore not only to humans but to all organisms constituting the natural order.

Deep ecology's core principle is the belief that the living environment as a whole should be respected and regarded as having certain basic moral and legal rights to live and flourish, independent of its instrumental benefits for human use. Deep ecology is often framed in terms of the idea of a much broader sociality; it recognizes diverse communities of life on Earth that are composed not only through biotic factors but also, where applicable, through ethical relations, that is, the valuing of other beings as more than just resources. It is described as "deep" because it is regarded as looking more deeply into the reality of humanity's relationship with the natural world, arriving at philosophically more profound conclusions than those of mainstream environmentalism.[1] The movement does not subscribe to anthropocentric environmentalism (which is concerned with conservation of the environment only for exploitation by and for human purposes), since deep ecology is grounded in a different set of philosophical assumptions. Deep ecology takes a holistic view of the world humans live in and seeks to apply to life the understanding that the separate parts of the ecosystem (including humans) function as a whole. The philosophy addresses core principles of different environmental and green movements and advocates a system of environmental ethics advocating wilderness preservation, non-coercive policies encouraging human population decline, and simple living.[2]

Origins[edit]

In his original 1973 deep ecology paper,[3] Arne Næss stated that he was inspired by ecologists who were studying the ecosystems throughout the world. Næss also made clear that he felt the real motivation to 'free nature' was spiritual and intuitive. 'Your motivation comes from your total view or your philosophical, religious opinions,' he said, 'so that you feel, when you are working in favour of free nature, you are working for something within your self, that ... demands changes. So you are motivated from what I call ‘deeper premises’.[4]

In a 2014 essay,[5] environmentalist George Sessions identified three people active in the 1960s whom he considered foundational to the movement: author and conservationist Rachel Carson, environmentalist David Brower, and biologist Paul R. Ehrlich. Sessions considers the publication of Carson's 1962 seminal book Silent Spring as the beginning of the contemporary deep ecology movement.[5] Næss also considered Carson the originator of the movement, stating "Eureka, I have found it" upon encountering her writings.[6]

Other events in the 1960s which have been proposed as foundational to the movement are the formation of Greenpeace, and the images of the Earth floating in space taken by the Apollo astronauts.[7]

Principles[edit]

Deep ecology proposes an embracing of ecological ideas and environmental ethics (that is, proposals about how humans should relate to nature).[8] It is also a social movement based on a holistic vision of the world.[1] Deep ecologists hold that the survival of any part is dependent upon the well-being of the whole, and criticise the narrative of human supremacy, which they say has not been a feature of most cultures throughout human evolution.[7] Deep ecology presents an eco-centric (earth-centred) view, rather than the anthropocentric (human-centred) view, developed in its most recent form by philosophers of the Enlightenment, such as Newton, Bacon, and Descartes. Proponents of deep ecology oppose the narrative that man is separate from nature, is in charge of nature, or is the steward of nature,[9] or that nature exists as a resource to be freely exploited. They cite the fact that indigenous peoples under-exploited their environment and retained a sustainable society for thousands of years, as evidence that human societies are not necessarily destructive by nature. They believe that the current materialist paradigm must be replaced - as Næss pointed out, this involves more than merely getting rid of capitalism and the concept of economic growth, or 'progress', that is critically endangering the biosphere. 'We need changes in society such that reason and emotion support each other,' he said. '... not only a change in a technological and economic system, but a change that touches all the fundamental aspects of industrial societies. This is what I mean by a change of 'system'.[10] Deep ecologists believe that the damage to natural systems sustained since the industrial revolution now threatens social collapse and possible extinction of humans, and are striving to bring about the kind of ideological, economic and technological changes Næss mentioned. Deep ecology claims that ecosystems can absorb damage only within certain parameters, and contends that civilization endangers the biodiversity of the earth. Deep ecologists have suggested that the human population must be substantially reduced, but advocate a gradual decrease in population rather than any apocalyptic solution[11]: 88  In a 1982 interview, Arne Næss commented that a global population of 100 million (0.1 billion) would be desirable.[12] However, others have argued that a population of 1 - 2 billion would be compatible with the deep ecological worldview.[11] Deep ecology eschews traditional left wing-right wing politics, but is viewed as radical ('Deep Green') in its opposition to capitalism, and its advocacy of an ecological paradigm. Unlike conservation, deep ecology does not advocate the controlled preservation of the landbase, but rather 'non-interference' with natural diversity except for vital needs. In citing 'humans' as being responsible for excessive environmental destruction, deep ecologists actually refer to 'humans within civilization, especially industrial civilization', accepting the fact that the vast majority of humans who have ever lived did not live in environmentally destructive societies – the excessive damage to the biosphere has been sustained mostly over the past hundred years.

In 1985, Bill Devall and George Sessions summed up their understanding of the concept of deep ecology with the following eight points:[13]

  • The well-being of human and nonhuman life on earth is of intrinsic value irrespective of its value to humans.
  • The diversity of life-forms is part of this value.
  • Humans have no right to reduce this diversity except to satisfy vital human needs
  • The flourishing of human and nonhuman life is compatible with a substantial decrease in human population.
  • Humans have interfered with nature to a critical level already, and interference is worsening.
  • Policies must be changed, affecting current economic, technological and ideological structures.
  • This ideological change should focus on an appreciation of the quality of life rather than adhering to an increasingly high standard of living.
  • All those who agree with the above tenets have an obligation to implement them.

Development[edit]

YPJ members in a greenhouse farm, for ecological cooperative farming in Rojava (AANES)

The phrase "Deep Ecology" first appeared in a 1973 article by the Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss.[3] Næss referred to "biospherical egalitarianism-in principle", which he explained was "an intuitively clear and obvious value axiom. Its restriction to humans is … anthropocentrism with detrimental effects upon the life quality of humans themselves... The attempt to ignore our dependence and to establish a master-slave role has contributed to the alienation of man from himself."[3] Næss added that from a deep ecology point of view "the right of all forms [of life] to live is a universal right which cannot be quantified. No single species of living being has more of this particular right to live and unfold than any other species".[14] As Bron Taylor and Michael Zimmerman have recounted,

a key event in the development of deep ecology was the "Rights of Non-Human Nature" conference held at a college in Claremont, California in 1974 [which] drew many of those who would become the intellectual architects of deep ecology. These included George Sessions who, like Næss, drew on Spinoza's pantheism, later co-authoring Deep Ecology - [Living as if Nature Mattered] with Bill Devall; Gary Snyder, whose remarkable, Pulitzer prize-winning Turtle Island proclaimed the value of place-based spiritualities, indigenous cultures, and animistic perceptions, ideas that would become central within deep ecology subcultures; and Paul Shepard, who in The Tender Carnivore and the Sacred Game, and subsequent works such as Nature and Madness and Coming Home to the Pleistocene, argued that foraging societies were ecologically superior to and emotionally healthier than agricultur[al societies]. Shepard and Snyder especially provided a cosmogony that explained humanity's fall from a pristine, nature paradise. Also extremely influential was Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire, which viewed the desert as a sacred place uniquely able to evoke in people a proper, non-anthropocentric understanding of the value of nature. By the early 1970s the above figures put in place the intellectual foundations of deep ecology.[15]

Sources[edit]

Deep ecology is an eco-philosophy derived from intuitive ethical principles. It does not claim to be a science, although it is based generally on the new physics, which, in the early 20th century, undermined the reductionist approach and the notion of objectivity, demonstrating that humans are an integral part of nature; this is a common concept always held by primal peoples.[16][17] Devall and Sessions, however, note that the work of many ecologists has encouraged the adoption of an "ecological consciousness", quoting environmentalist Aldo Leopold's view that such a consciousness "changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land community to plain member and citizen of it."[18] Though some detractors assert that deep ecology is based on the discredited idea of the "balance of nature", deep ecologists have made no such claim. They do not dispute the theory that human cultures can have a benevolent effect on the landbase, only the idea of the control of nature, or human supremacy, which is the central pillar of the industrial paradigm. The tenets of deep ecology state that humans have no right to interfere with natural diversity except for vital needs: the distinction between "vital" and "other needs" cannot be drawn precisely.[19] Deep ecologists reject any mechanical or computer model of nature, and see the earth as a living organism, which should be treated and understood accordingly.[20]

Arne Næss uses Baruch Spinoza as a source, particularly his notion that everything that exists is part of a single reality.[21] Others have copied Næss in this, including Eccy de Jonge[22] and Brenden MacDonald.[23]

Aspects[edit]

Environmental education[edit]

In 2010, Richard Kahn promoted the movement of ecopedagogy, proposing using radical environmental activism as an educational principle to teach students to support "earth democracy" which promotes the rights of animals, plants, fungi, algae and bacteria. The biologist Dr. Stephan Harding has developed the concept of "holistic science", based on principles of ecology and deep ecology. In contrast with materialist, reductionist science, holistic science studies natural systems as a living whole. He writes:

We encourage … students to use [their] sense of belonging to an intelligent universe (revealed by deep experience), for deeply questioning their fundamental beliefs, and for translating these beliefs into personal decisions, lifestyles and actions. The emphasis on action is important. This is what makes deep ecology a movement as much as a philosophy.[8]

Spirituality[edit]

Deep ecologist and physicist Frijof Capra has said that '[Deep] ecology and spirituality are fundamentally connected because deep ecological awareness is, ultimately, spiritual awareness.'[24]

Arne Næss commented that he was inspired by the work of Spinoza and Gandhi, both of whom based their values on grounds of religious feeling and experience. Though he regarded deep ecology as a spiritual philosophy, he explained that he was not a 'believer' in the sense of following any particular articles of religious dogma. ' ... it is quite correct to say that I have sometimes been called religious or spiritual, 'he said, 'because I believe that living creatures have an intrinsic worth of their own, and also that there are fundamental intuitions about what is unjust.'.[25]

Næss criticised the Judeo-Christian tradition, stating the Bible's "arrogance of stewardship consists in the idea of superiority which underlies the thought that we exist to watch over nature like a highly respected middleman between the Creator and Creation".[14] Næss further criticizes the reformation's view of creation as property to be put into maximum productive use.

However, Næss added that while he felt the word 'God' was 'too loaded with preconceived ideas', he accepted Spinoza's idea of God as 'immanent' - 'a single creative force'... 'constantly creating the world by being the creative force in Nature'. He did not, he said, 'exclude the possibility that Christian theological principles are true in a certain sense ...'.[26]

Joanna Macy in "the Work that Reconnects" integrates Buddhist philosophy with a deep ecological viewpoint.

Criticisms[edit]

Eurocentric bias[edit]

Guha and Martínez Alier critique the four defining characteristics of deep ecology. First, because deep ecologists believe that environmental movements must shift from an anthropocentric to an ecocentric approach, they fail to recognize the two most fundamental ecological crises facing the world: overconsumption in the global north and increasing militarization. Second, deep ecology's emphasis on wilderness provides impetus for the imperialist yearning of the West. Third, deep ecology appropriates Eastern traditions, characterizes Eastern spiritual beliefs as monolithic, and denies agency to Eastern peoples. And fourth, because deep ecology equates environmental protection with wilderness preservation its radical elements are confined within the American wilderness preservationist movement.[27]

While deep ecologists accept that overconsumption and militarization are major issues, they point out that the impulse to save wilderness is intuitive and has no connection with imperialism. This claim by Guha and Martínez Alier, in particular, closely resembles statements made, for instance, by Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro declaring Brazil's right to cut down the Amazon Rainforest. 'The Amazon belongs to Brazil and European countries can mind their own business because they have already destroyed their own environment.' The inference is clearly that, since European countries have already destroyed their environment, Brazil also has the right to do so: deep ecological values should not apply to them, as they have not yet had their 'turn' at maximum economic growth.[28]

With regard to 'appropriating spiritual beliefs' Arne Næss pointed out that the essence of deep ecology is the belief that 'all living creatures have their own intrinsic value, a value irrespective of the use they might have for mankind.'[29] Næss stated that supporters of the deep ecology movement came from various different religious and spiritual traditions, and were united in this one belief, albeit basing it on various different values.[30]

Knowledge of nonhuman interests[edit]

Animal rights activists state that for an entity to require intrinsic rights, it must have interests.[31] Deep ecologists are criticised for insisting they can somehow understand the thoughts and interests of non-humans such as plants or protists, which they claim thus proves that non-human lifeforms have intelligence. For example, a single-celled bacteria might move towards a certain chemical stimulation, although such movement might be rationally explained, a deep ecologist might say that this was all invalid because according to his better understanding of the situation that the intention formulated by this particular bacteria was informed by its deep desire to succeed in life. One criticism of this belief is that the interests that a deep ecologist attributes to non-human organisms such as survival, reproduction, growth, and prosperity are really human interests. Deep ecologists refute this criticism by pointing out first that 'survival' 'reproduction' 'growth' and 'prosperity'(flourishing) are accepted attributes of all living organisms: 'to succeed in life', depending on how one defines 'success' could certainly be construed as the aim of all life. In addition, the plethora of recent work on mimesis. Thomas Nagel suggests, "[B]lind people are able to detect objects near them by a form of a sonar, using vocal clicks or taps of a cane. Perhaps if one knew what that was like, one could by extension imagine roughly what it was like to possess the much more refined sonar of a bat."[32] Others such as David Abram have said that consciousness is not specific to humans, but a property of the totality of the universe of which humans are a manifestation.[33]

Deepness[edit]

When Arne Næss coined the term deep ecology, he compared it favourably with shallow ecology which he criticized for its utilitarian and anthropocentric attitude to nature and for its materialist and consumer-oriented outlook,[34] describing its "central objective" as "the health and affluence of people in the developed countries."[3] William D. Grey believes that developing a non-anthropocentric set of values is "a hopeless quest". He seeks an improved "shallow" view.[35] Deep ecologists point out, however, that "shallow ecology" (resource management conservation) is counter-productive, since it serves mainly to support capitalism, the means through which industrial civilization destroys the biosphere. The eco-centric view thus only becomes 'hopeless' within the structures and ideology of civilization. Outside it, however, a non-anthropocentric world view has characterised most 'primal' cultures since time immemorial, and, in fact, obtained in many indigenous groups until the industrial revolution and after.[36] Some cultures still hold this view today. As such, the eco-centric narrative is in not alien to humans, and may be seen as the normative ethos in human evolution.[13]: 97  Grey's view represents the reformist discourse that deep ecology has rejected from the beginning.[13]: 52 

Misanthropy[edit]

Social ecologist Murray Bookchin interpreted deep ecology as being misanthropic, due in part to the characterization of humanity by David Foreman, of the environmental advocacy group Earth First!, as a "pathological infestation on the Earth". Bookchin mentions that some, like Foreman, defend misanthropic measures such as organising the rapid genocide of most of humanity.[37] In response, deep ecologists have argued that Foreman's statement clashes with the core narrative of deep ecology, the first tenet of which stresses the intrinsic value of both nonhuman and human life. Arne Næss suggested a slow decrease in human population over an extended period, not genocide.[38]

Bookchin's second major criticism is that deep ecology fails to link environmental crises with authoritarianism and hierarchy. He suggests that deep ecologists fail to recognise the potential for humans to solve environmental issues.[37] In response, deep ecologists have argued that industrial civilization, with its class hierarchy, is the sole source of the ecological crisis.[39]: 18  The eco-centric worldview precludes any acceptance of social class or authority based on social status.[3] Deep ecologists believe that since ecological problems are created by industrial civilization the only solution is the deconstruction of the culture itself.[39]

Sciencism[edit]

Daniel Botkin concludes that although deep ecology challenges the assumptions of western philosophy, and should be taken seriously, it derives from a misunderstanding of scientific information and conclusions based on this misunderstanding, which are in turn used as justification for its ideology. It begins with an ideology and is political and social in focus. Botkin has also criticized Næss's assertion that all species are morally equal and his disparaging description of pioneering species.[40] Deep ecologists counter this criticism by asserting that a concern with political and social values is primary, since the destruction of natural diversity stems directly from the social structure of civilization, and cannot be halted by reforms within the system. They also cite the work of environmentalists and activists such as Rachel CarsonAldo LeopoldJohn Livingston, and others as being influential, and are occasionally critical of the way the science of ecology has been misused.[3]

Utopianism[edit]

Eco-critic Jonathan Bate has called deep ecologists 'utopians', pointing out that 'utopia' actually means 'nowhere' and quoting Rousseau's claim that "the state of nature no longer exists and perhaps never did and probably never will." Bate asks how a planet crowded with cities

could possibly be returned to the state of nature? And ...who would want to return it there? ... Life in the state of nature, Thomas Hobbes reminded readers of Leviathan in 1650, is solitary, poor, ignorant, brutish and short. It may be necessary to critique the values of the Enlightenment, but to reject enlightenment altogether would be to reject justice, political liberty and altruism.[41]

Bates' criticism rests partly on the idea that industrial civilization and the technics it depends on are themselves 'natural' because they are made by humans. Deep ecologists have indicated that the concept of technics being 'natural' and therefore 'morally neutral' is a delusion of industrial civilization: there can be nothing 'neutral' about nuclear weapons, for instance, whose sole purpose is large scale destruction. Historian Lewis Mumford,[42] divides technology into 'democratic' and 'authoritarian' technics ('technics' includes both technical and cultural aspects of technology). While 'democratic' technics, available to small communities, may be neutral, 'authoritarian' technics, available only to large-scale, hierarchical, authoritarian, societies, are not. Such technics are not only unsustainable, but 'are driving planetary murder'. They need urgently to be abandoned, as supported by point #6 of the deep ecology platform.[43]

With reference to the degree to which landscapes are natural, Peter Wohlleben draws a temporal line (roughly equivalent to the development of Mumford's'authoritarian' technics) at the agricultural revolution, about 8000 BC, when "selective farming practices began to change species."[44] This is also the time when the landscape began to be intentionally transformed into an ecosystem completely devoted to meeting human needs.[44]

Concerning Hobbes's pronouncement on 'the state of nature', deep ecologists and others have commented that it is false and was made simply to legitimize the idea of a putative 'social contract' by which some humans are subordinate to others. There is no evidence that members of primal societies, employing 'democratic technics', lived shorter lives than those in civilization (at least before the 20th century); their lives were the opposite of solitary, since they lived in close-knit communities, and while 'poverty' is a social relation non-existent in sharing cultures, 'ignorant' and 'brutish' both equate to the term 'savage' used by colonials of primal peoples, referring to the absence of authoritarian technics in their cultures. Justice, political liberty and altruism are characteristic of egalitarian primal societies rather than civilization, which is defined by class hierarchies and is therefore by definition unjust, immoral, and lacking in altruism.

Links with other philosophies[edit]

Arne Næss stated that the main philosophical influence on his life and work was Spinoza. 'When I was seventeen I read Spinoza's 'Ethics' he said, '... I was inspired by [his] view of human nature or essence: our nature or essence is such that we are pleased at other's pleasure and feel sad about other's sadness. Kindness and love activate our nature; best of all, they activate all aspects of ourselves.'[45]

Peter Singer critiques anthropocentrism and advocates for animals to be given rights. However, Singer has disagreed with deep ecology's belief in the intrinsic value of nature separate from questions of suffering.[46] Zimmerman groups deep ecology with feminism and civil rights movements.[47] Nelson contrasts it with ecofeminism.[48] The links with animal rights are perhaps the strongest, as "proponents of such ideas argue that 'all life has intrinsic value'".[49]

David Foreman, the co-founder of the radical direct-action movement Earth First!, has said he is an advocate for deep ecology.[50][51] At one point Arne Næss also engaged in direct action when he chained himself to rocks in front of Mardalsfossen, a waterfall in a Norwegian fjord, in a successful protest against the building of a dam.[52]

Some have linked the movement to green anarchism as evidenced in a compilation of essays titled Deep Ecology & Anarchism.[53]

The object-oriented ontologist Timothy Morton has explored similar ideas in the books Ecology without Nature: Rethinking Environmental Aesthetics (2009) and Dark Ecology: For a Logic of Future Coexistence (2016).[54][55]

Notable advocates of deep ecology[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Jump up to:a b Smith, Mick (2014). "Deep Ecology: What is Said and (to be) Done?"The Trumpeter30 (2): 141–156. ProQuest 1958537477.
  2. ^ Barry, John; Frankland, E. Gene (2002). International Encyclopedia of Environmental Politics. Routledge. p. 161. ISBN 9780415202855.
  3. Jump up to:a b c d e f Naess, Arne (January 1973). "The shallow and the deep, long‐range ecology movement. A summary". Inquiry16 (1–4): 95–100. doi:10.1080/00201747308601682S2CID 52207763.
  4. ^ Interview with Norwegian eco-philosopher Arne Naess Source:www.naturearteducation.org/Interview_Arne_Naess_1995.pdf www.rerunproducties.nl
  5. Jump up to:a b Sessions, George (2014). "Deep Ecology, New Conservation, and the Anthropocene Worldview"The Trumpeter30 (2): 106–114. ProQuest 1958534297.
  6. ^ Arne, Naess; Rothenberg, David (1993). Is it Painful to Think?. University of Minnesota Press. pp. 131–132.
  7. Jump up to:a b Drengson, Alan; Devall, Bill; Schroll, Mark A. (2011). "The Deep Ecology Movement: Origins, Development, and Future Prospects (Toward a Transpersonal Ecosophy)"International Journal of Transpersonal Studies30 (1–2): 101–117. doi:10.24972/ijts.2011.30.1-2.101.
  8. Jump up to:a b Harding, Stephan. Deep Ecology in the Holistic Science Programme. Schumacher College.
  9. ^ Margulis, LynnAnimate Earth.
  10. ^ Arne Naess 'Life's Philosophy - Reason & Feeling in a Deeper World' 2002 P6
  11. Jump up to:a b Sessions, George, ed. (1995). Deep Ecology for the Twenty-First Century. Shambala Publications. ISBN 9781570620492.
  12. ^ Bodian, Stephan (1982). "Simple in Means, Rich in Ends - A Conversation with Arne Naess" (PDF).
  13. Jump up to:a b c Devall, Bill; Sessions, George (1985). Deep Ecology. Gibbs M. Smith. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-87905-247-8.
  14. Jump up to:a b Næss, Arne (1989). Ecology, community and lifestyle: outline of an ecosophy Translated by D. Rothenberg. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 166, 187. ISBN 0521344069LCCN 88005068.
  15. ^ Taylor, B.; Zimmerman, M. (2005). Taylor, B. (ed.). Deep EcologyEncyclopedia of Religion and Nature, Volume 1. London: Continuum International. pp. 456–60.
  16. ^ Fox, Warwick. The Intuition of Deep Ecology., quoted in Devall, Bill; Sessions, George (1985). Deep Ecology. Gibbs M. Smith. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-87905-247-8.
  17. ^ Bohm, David (1980). Wholeness and The Implicate Order. p. 37. ISBN 9780710003669.
  18. ^ "We are only fellow-voyagers with other creatures in the odyssey of evolution," states Aldo Leopold; quoted in Devall, Bill; Sessions, George (1985). Deep Ecology. Gibbs M. Smith. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-87905-247-8.
  19. ^ McLaughlin, Andrew (1995). Sessions, George (ed.). The Heart of Deep EcologyDeep Ecology for the Twenty-First Century. Shambala Publications. p. 87. ISBN 9781570620492.
  20. ^ "There are no shortcuts to direct organic experiencing." Morris Berman, quoted in Devall, Bill; Sessions, George (1985). Deep Ecology. Gibbs M. Smith. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-87905-247-8.
  21. ^ Naess, A. (1977). "Spinoza and ecology". Philosophia7: 45–54. doi:10.1007/BF02379991S2CID 143850683.
  22. ^ de Jonge, Eccy (April 28, 2004). Spinoza and Deep Ecology: Challenging Traditional Approaches to Environmentalism (Ashgate New Critical Thinking in Philosophy). Routledge. ISBN 978-0754633273.
  23. ^ MacDonald, Brenden James (14 May 2012). "Spinoza, Deep Ecology, and Human Diversity -- Schizophrenics and Others Who Could Heal the Earth If Society Realized Eco-Literacy"The Trumpeter28 (1): 89–101. ProQuest 1959176673.
  24. ^ "TOP 25 QUOTES BY FRITJOF CAPRA (of 60)"A-Z Quotes.
  25. ^ Arne Naess 'Life's Philosophy - Reason & Feeling in a Deeper World 2002 P8
  26. ^ Arne Naess 'Life's Philosophy - Reason & Feeling in a Deeper World 2002 P8
  27. ^ Guha, R., and J. Martinez-Allier. 1997. Radical American Environmentalism and Wilderness Preservation: A Third World Critique. Varieties of Environmentalism: Essays North and South, pp. 92-108
  28. ^ "Bolsonaro declares 'the Amazon is ours' and calls deforestation data 'lies'"the Guardian. July 19, 2019.
  29. ^ Arne Naess 'Life's Philosophy - Reason and Feeling in a Deeper World' 2002 P6)
  30. ^ ibid
  31. ^ Feinberg, Joel"The Rights of Animals and Future Generations". Retrieved 2006-04-25.
  32. ^ Nagel, Thomas (1997). "What is it like to be a bat?": 172.
  33. ^ Abram, David. The Spell of the Sensuous. p. 262.
  34. ^ Devall, Bill; Sessions, George. Deep Ecology: Environmentalism as if all beings mattered. Archived from the original on 2017-06-24. Retrieved 2006-04-25.
  35. ^ Grey, William (1993). "Anthropocentrism and Deep Ecology"Australasian Journal of Philosophy71 (4): 463–75. doi:10.1080/00048409312345442. Archived from the original on 2001-04-14. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  36. ^ Abrams, David. The Spell of the Sensuous.
  37. Jump up to:a b Bookchin, Murray (1987). "Social Ecology versus Deep Ecology: A Challenge for the Ecology Movement"Green Perspectives/Anarchy Archives – via dwardmac.pitzer.edu.
  38. ^ Sessions, George, ed. (1995). Deep Ecology for the 21st Century. p. 88. ISBN 9781570620492.
  39. Jump up to:a b Jensen, Derrick (2006). Endgame, Volume 2.
  40. ^ Botkin, Daniel B. (2000). No Man's Garden: Thoreau and a New Vision for Civilization and Nature. Shearwater Books. pp. 42 42, 39]. ISBN 978-1-55963-465-6.
  41. ^ Bate, Jonathan (2000). The Song of the Earth. p. 37.
  42. ^ Mumford, Lewis (1966). The Myth of the Machine — Technics & Human Development.
  43. ^ Jensen, Derrick; McBay, Aric (2011). Technics (excerpt from chapter "Technotopia: Industry")What We Leave Behind. Derrick Jensen. p. 234. ISBN 9781583229897. Retrieved August 5, 2021 – via derrickjensen.org.
  44. Jump up to:a b Wohlleben, Peter (2019). The Secret Wisdom of Nature: Trees, Animals and the Extraordinary Balance of All Living Things. Translated by Jane Billinghurst. David Suzuki Institute, Greystone Books. ISBN 9781771643887.
  45. ^ Arne Naess 'Life's Philosophy - Reason & Feeling in a Deeper World 2002 P9
  46. ^ Kendall, Gillian (May 2011). "The Greater Good: Peter Singer On How To Live An Ethical Life"Sun Magazine, the Sun Interview (425). Retrieved 2011-12-02.
  47. ^ AtKisson, Alan (Summer 1989). "Introduction To Deep Ecology, an interview with Michael E. Zimmerman"Global Climate Change. Context Institute (22): 24. Archived from the original on 2012-01-23. Retrieved 2021-08-05 – via Context.org.
  48. ^ Nelson, C. (August 2021). Ecofeminism vs. Deep Ecology. Dialogue, San Antonio, Texas: Dept. of Philosophy, Saint Mary's University.
  49. ^ Wall, Derek (1994). Green HistoryRoutledgeISBN 978-0-415-07925-9.
  50. ^ Levine, David, ed. (1991). Defending the Earth: a dialogue between Murray Bookchin and Dave Foreman.
  51. ^ Bookchin, Murray; Graham Purchase; Brian Morris; Rodney Aitchtey; Robert Hart; Chris Wilbert (1993). Deep Ecology and Anarchism. Freedom Press. ISBN 978-0-900384-67-7.
  52. ^ Seed, J.; Macy, J.; Flemming, P.; Næss, A. (1988). Thinking like a mountain: towards a council of all beings. Heretic Books. ISBN 0-946097-26-7.
  53. ^ Deep Ecology & Anarchism. Freedom Press. 1993.
  54. ^ Morton, Timothy (2009). Ecology without Nature: Rethinking Environmental Aesthetics. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674266162.
  55. ^ Morton, Timothy (2016). Dark Ecology: For a Logic of Future Coexistence. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231541367.

Additional sources[edit]

  • Bender, F. L. 2003. The Culture of Extinction: Toward a Philosophy of Deep Ecology Amherst, New York: Humanity Books.
  • Katz, E., A. Light, et al. 2000. Beneath the Surface: Critical Essays in the Philosophy of Deep Ecology Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
  • LaChapelle, D. 1992. Sacred Land, Sacred Sex: Rapture of the Deep Durango: Kivakí Press.
  • Passmore, J. 1974. Man's Responsibility for Nature London: Duckworth.
  • Clark, John P (2014). "What Is Living In Deep Ecology?". Trumpeter: Journal of Ecosophy30 (2): 157–183.
  • Hawkins, Ronnie (2014). "Why Deep Ecology Had To Die". Trumpeter: Journal of Ecosophy30 (2): 206–273.
  • Drengson, Alan. "The Deep Ecology Movement." The Green Majority, CIUT 89.5 FM, University of Toronto, 6 June 2008.

Further reading[edit]

  • Gecevska, Valentina; Donev, Vancho; Polenakovik, Radmil (2016). "A Review Of Environmental Tools Towards Sustainable Development". Annals of the Faculty of Engineering Hunedoara - International Journal of Engineering14 (1): 147–152.
  • Glasser, Harold (ed.) 2005. The Selected Works of Arne Næss, Volumes 1-10. SpringerISBN 1-4020-3727-9. (review)
  • Holy-Luczaj, Magdalena (2015). "Heidegger's Support For Deep Ecology Reexamined Once Again". Ethics & the Environment20 (1): 45–66. doi:10.2979/ethicsenviro.20.1.45S2CID 141921083.
  • Keulartz, Jozef 1998. Struggle for nature : a critique of radical ecology, London [etc.] : Routledge.
  • Linkola, Pentti 2011. Can Life Prevail? UK: Arktos Media, 2nd Revised ed. ISBN 1907166637
  • Marc R., Fellenz. "9. Ecophilosophy: Deep Ecology And Ecofeminism." The Moral Menagerie : Philosophy and Animal Rights. 158. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2007.
  • Orton, David (January 9, 2000). "Deep Ecology and Animal Rights: A Discussion Paper"The Green Web.
  • Sylvan, Richard (1985a). "A Critique of Deep Ecology, Part I". Radical Philosophy40: 2–12.
  • Sylvan, Richard (1985b). "A Critique of Deep Ecology, Part II". Radical Philosophy41: 1–22.
  • Tobias, Michael (ed.) 1988 (1984). Deep Ecology. Avant Books. ISBN 0-932238-13-0.