Summary

The provided web content discusses the principles and origins of the Deep Ecology movement, emphasizing its distinction from shallow environmentalism and its call for a profound shift in human values and systems to preserve ecological and cultural diversity.

Abstract

The web content presents an overview of the Deep Ecology movement, rooted in the philosophy of Arne Naess and others, which advocates for an expanded sense of self that includes all living beings. It contrasts the deep, long-range approach to environmentalism, which questions fundamental values and aims for systemic change, with shallow environmentalism that often relies on technological fixes without addressing underlying issues. The movement is characterized by its commitment to the intrinsic value of all life, the richness and diversity of life forms, and the need for significant reductions in human population and interference with the natural world. The Deep Ecology Platform, outlined in the content, calls for transformative changes in economic, technological, and ideological structures to achieve a state of living that prioritizes quality of life over material wealth.

Opinions

Arne Naess and others propose that the self extends beyond human relations to include connections with all living beings, advocating for an "ecological self."
The Deep Ecology movement is distinguished from shallow environmentalism by its willingness to question root causes and advocate for fundamental changes in human behavior and systems.
The movement emphasizes the inherent worth of both human and nonhuman life, independent of their utility to humans.
It is suggested that a substantial decrease in human population is necessary for the flourishing of both human and nonhuman life.
The movement calls for a redesign of human systems based on values that preserve ecological and cultural diversity.
There is a call to action for those who support Deep Ecology to participate in implementing necessary changes to current policies and ideologies.
The content promotes an ideological shift towards appreciating life quality and the beauty of simplicity, as opposed to an ever-increasing standard of living driven by materialism.

Deep Ecology

Excerpt from the Worldview Dimension of Gaia Education’s online course in Design for Sustainability

The philosopher Arne Naess suggests: “We may be in, of and for nature from our very beginning.” He argues: “Society and human relations are important, but our self is richer in its constituent relations. These relations are not only relations we have with humans and the human community, but with the larger community of all living beings” (Naess, 1988, p.20).

Along with John Seed, Joanna Macy and Pat Fleming, Arne Naess is regarded as the originator of the deep ecology movement. The conceptual and perceptual expansion of the self beyond the skin boundary and to experience and understand ourselves as a relational self, or “ecological self” is a central theme in deep ecology.

A voice for wild nature, the Foundation for Deep Ecology supports efforts to protect wilderness and wildlife, promote ecological agriculture, and oppose destructive mega-technologies that are accelerating the extinction crisis.(logo; image left; image middle, image right)

As early as the 1970s Arne Naess saw two different forms of environmentalism, that were not necessarily incompatible with each other, but very distinct in the solutions they proposed. One he called the “long-range deep ecology movement” and the other, the “shallow ecology movement.” The word “deep” in part referred to the level of questioning of our purposes and values with regard to environmental issues.

The Deep Ecology movement engages in deep questioning, right down to fundamental root causes. Whereas the more shallow and short-term approaches to the environmental crisis stop before affecting fundamental change, often promoting technological fixes that are based on the same consumption-oriented values and methods of the industrial economy.

The Deep Ecology approach calls for a redesign of all human made systems based on values and methods that truly preserve the ecological and cultural diversity of natural systems. Satish Kumar explains in this video the difference between shallow ecology and deep ecology.

Arne Næss was a Norwegian philosopher who inspired the Deep Ecology movement; other key people who have promoted deep ecology work around the world include Joanna Macy & Chris Johnstone, and Stephan Harding (image left, image middle, image right)

Together with George Session, Arne Naess proposed a set of basic assumptions or attitudes shared by people in the deep ecology movement and call this list the Deep Ecology Platform. More than just a platform for a movement, it is also a call to ethically congruent action.

The Deep Ecology Platform: (Source: Foundation for Deep Ecology)

The wellbeing and flourishing of human and nonhuman life on Earth have value in themselves (synonyms: inherent worth; intrinsic value; inherent value). These values are independent of the usefulness of the nonhuman world for human purposes.

Richness and diversity of life forms contribute to the realization of these values and are also values in themselves.

Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vital needs.

Present human interference with the nonhuman world is excessive, and the situation is rapidly worsening.

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.

Policies must therefore be changed. The changes in policies affect basic economic, technological, and ideological structures. The resulting state of affairs will be deeply different from the present.

The ideological change is mainly that of appreciating life quality (dwelling in situations of inherent worth) rather than adhering to an increasingly higher standard of living. There will be a profound awareness of the difference between big and great.

Those who subscribe to the foregoing points have an obligation directly or indirectly to participate in the attempt to implement the necessary changes.

Note: This is an excerpt from the Worldview Dimension of Gaia Education’s online course in Design for Sustainability. In 2012 I was asked to rewrite this dimension as part of a collaboration between Gaia Education and the Open University of Catalunya (UOC) and in 2016 I revised it again into this current version. The next opportunity to join the course is with the start of the Worldview Dimension on May 21st, 2018.