Deep Ecology and Its Environmental Perspective

1943 Words8 Pages
The current status of environmental degradation worldwide encourages a variety of intellectual investigations into the history of human/nature relationships. Global climate change, deforestation, overpopulation, and the depletion of natural resources are emblematic of the global environmental problems demanding human response. Human presence has developed into a source of permanent degradation, and continues to have a negative influence on the natural world; therefore, the need to rethink human behavior in relation to the earth is critical. The current state of environmental stress inspires much retrospection and introspection amongst global communities, thus leading environmental scholars to investigate solutions, including those found in environmental value systems centered on rejuvenating the earth. This essay attempts to critically discuss the relevance of the Deep Ecology (hereafter referred to as DE) intellectual tradition in understanding today’s global environmental crises and interventions. DE is a western philosophical theory developed by Arne Naess, a Norwegian philosopher. He presented his first lecture on the subject: “The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movements,” to the Third World Future Research Conference in Bucharest in 1973. The fundamental principles of DE highlight the shortcomings of its counterpart, Shallow Ecology. According to scholars of DE, Shallow Ecology can be used to describe the most common endeavors to curb environmental degradation. Shallow Ecology addresses a “short-term, pragmatic reform approach...concerned mainly with the symptoms of environmental disease such as pollution and resource depletion.” Consequently, Shallow Ecology places emphasis on conservation and efficient use of resources, rather than rethinking human/nature relationships. Unlike DE, Shallow Ecology can be practiced successfully by homo economicus

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