Deep ecology

The phrase deep ecology was introduced by the Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss in 1973.

Deep ecology is an offshoot of the ecology movement. It is notable for statements that the Earth's carrying capacity for the human population was quite limited, and that it could carry no more than one to two billion people living at feasible levels of technology, in the long term. That claim led many to believe that they were advocating human extinction. Some did, in fact, but a voluntary form of it, consisting of not having any children.

Many of the ideas of deep ecology have been expounded in the book The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey. The book, a fictional account of ecotage directed against dams, influenced Earth First!.

There has been considerable debate among North American Greens between advocates of deep ecology and advocates of the social ecology of Murray Bookchin. These are distinguishable from the more limited and generic view of a deep ecology which includes human beings as an inherent organ of Earth, the Gaia philosophy which sees the Earth itself as one living thing, and the more limited goals of the scientific ecology movement, political environmental movement, and aesthetic conservation movement.

Deep ecology exercised relatively little influence on Green parties, political ecologists, environmentalists, the peace movement and the ecology movement, which were busy trying to prevent human extinction via nuclear war or other weapons of mass destruction.

Deep ecologists view humans as just one of many animal species subject to the population dynamics and to die-off, described by the science of ecology. Deep ecologists differentiate themselves from (shallow) environmentalism, which they view as anthropocentric (human-centered).

Platform

Proponents of deep ecology offer an eight-tier platform to elucidate their claims: ¹

1. The well-being and flourishing of human and nonhuman Life on Earth have value in themselves (synonyms: intrinsic value, inherent value). These values are independent of the usefulness of the nonhuman world for human purposes.
2. Richness and diversity of life forms 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 human needs.
4. 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.
5. Present human interference with the nonhuman world is excessive, and the situation is rapidly worsening.
6. Policies must therefore be changed. These policies affect basic economic, technological, and ideological structures. The resulting state of affairs will be deeply different from the present.
7. The ideological change is mainly that of appreciating life quality (dwelling in situations of inherent value) rather than adhering to an increasingly higher standard of living. There will be a profound awareness of the difference between big & great.
8. Those who subscribe to the foregoing points have an obligation directly or indirectly to try to implement the necessary changes.

Notable advocates of deep ecology

• Fritjof Capra
• Warwick Fox
• Pentti Linkola
• Joanna Macy
• Jerry Mander
• Arne Naess
• George Sessions
• Gary Snyder

See also

• Environmental Ethics
• Ecology movement
• Gaian
• Ecology
• Greens
• Systems theory

Notes

• Note 1: Devall, Bill. Sessions, George. (1985). Deep Ecology. Gibbs Smith Publishers. Salt Lake City. p. 70. ISBN 0879052473

External links

• Foundation for Deep Ecology
• Deep Ecology Movement, Alan Drengson, Foundation for Deep Ecology.
• An interview with Michael E. Zimmerman by Alan AtKisson which discusses Deep Ecology and its relation to some other philosophies