Environmentalism lecture delivered Fall 2014, Intro to Political Theory, University of Kentucky.

1. Environmentalism(s)
Dr. Christopher S. Rice

7. Egocentrism

8. Homocentrism

9. Ecocentrism

10. Problems with Eco-centrism:
• May actually be homocentric at its
root – assigning values of species,
etc.
• Fuzziness between facts and
values, is and ought.
• Assumption of moral progress.
• Feminist critique – glosses over
issues of race, gender, class,
species difference.

11. Problems with Eco-centrism:
• May actually be homocentric at its
root – assigning values of species,
etc.
• Fuzziness between facts and
values, is and ought.
• Assumption of moral progress.
• Feminist critique – glosses over
issues of race, gender, class,
species difference.

12. Problems with Eco-centrism:
• May actually be homocentric at its
root – assigning values of species,
etc.
• Fuzziness between facts and
values, is and ought.
• Assumption of moral progress.
• Feminist critique – glosses over
issues of race, gender, class,
species difference.

13. Problems with Eco-centrism:
• May actually be homocentric at its
root – assigning values of species,
etc.
• Fuzziness between facts and
values, is and ought.
• Assumption of moral progress.
• Feminist critique – glosses over
issues of race, gender, class,
species difference.

14. Deep Ecology

16. Ecosophy T

17. Ecosophy
A philosophy of ecological
harmony or equilibrium.

18. Ecosophy T

19. The Principles of Deep Ecology
Arne Naess, “The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement: A Summary,” Inquiry, 16 (1972): 95-100.
Carolyn Merchant, Radical Ecology, p.87.
• Rejection of the man-in-environment image
in favor of the relational, total-field image.
• Biospherical egalitarianism.
• Principles of diversity and of symbiosis.
• Anti-class posture.
• Fight against pollution and resource
depletion.
• Complexity, not complication.
• Local autonomy and decentralization.

20. The Principles of Deep Ecology
Arne Naess, “The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement: A Summary,” Inquiry, 16 (1972): 95-100.
Carolyn Merchant, Radical Ecology, p.87.
• Rejection of the man-in-environment image
in favor of the relational, total-field image.
• Biospherical egalitarianism.
• Principles of diversity and of symbiosis.
• Anti-class posture.
• Fight against pollution and resource
depletion.
• Complexity, not complication.
• Local autonomy and decentralization.

21. The Principles of Deep Ecology
Arne Naess, “The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement: A Summary,” Inquiry, 16 (1972): 95-100.
Carolyn Merchant, Radical Ecology, p.87.
• Rejection of the man-in-environment image
in favor of the relational, total-field image.
• Biospherical egalitarianism.
• Principles of diversity and of symbiosis.
• Anti-class posture.
• Fight against pollution and resource
depletion.
• Complexity, not complication.
• Local autonomy and decentralization.

22. The Principles of Deep Ecology
Arne Naess, “The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement: A Summary,” Inquiry, 16 (1972): 95-100.
Carolyn Merchant, Radical Ecology, p.87.
• Rejection of the man-in-environment image
in favor of the relational, total-field image.
• Biospherical egalitarianism.
• Principles of diversity and of symbiosis.
• Anti-class posture.
• Fight against pollution and resource
depletion.
• Complexity, not complication.
• Local autonomy and decentralization.

23. The Principles of Deep Ecology
Arne Naess, “The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement: A Summary,” Inquiry, 16 (1972): 95-100.
Carolyn Merchant, Radical Ecology, p.87.
• Rejection of the man-in-environment image
in favor of the relational, total-field image.
• Biospherical egalitarianism.
• Principles of diversity and of symbiosis.
• Anti-class posture.
• Fight against pollution and resource
depletion.
• Complexity, not complication.
• Local autonomy and decentralization.

24. The Principles of Deep Ecology
Arne Naess, “The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement: A Summary,” Inquiry, 16 (1972): 95-100.
Carolyn Merchant, Radical Ecology, p.87.
• Rejection of the man-in-environment image
in favor of the relational, total-field image.
• Biospherical egalitarianism.
• Principles of diversity and of symbiosis.
• Anti-class posture.
• Fight against pollution and resource
depletion.
• Complexity, not complication.
• Local autonomy and decentralization.

25. The Principles of Deep Ecology
Arne Naess, “The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement: A Summary,” Inquiry, 16 (1972): 95-100.
Carolyn Merchant, Radical Ecology, p.87.
• Rejection of the man-in-environment image
in favor of the relational, total-field image.
• Biospherical egalitarianism.
• Principles of diversity and of symbiosis.
• Anti-class posture.
• Fight against pollution and resource
depletion.
• Complexity, not complication.
• Local autonomy and decentralization.

29. Dominant Western Worldview
(DWW)
+
Human Exceptionalism Paradigm
(HPP)
vs.
New Ecological Paradigm (NEP)

30. Dominant Western
Worldview (DWW)
Human Exceptionalism
Paradigm (HEP)
New Ecological
Paradigm (NEP)
Assumptions about the
nature of human beings:
People are fundamentally different
from all other creatures on Earth,
over which they have dominion.
Humans have a cultural heritage in
addition to (and distinct from) their
genetic inheritance, and thus are
quite unlike all other animal
species.
While humans have exceptional
characteristics (culture,
technology, etc.), they remain one
among many species that are
interdependently involved in the
global ecosystem.
Assumptions about
social causation:
People are master of their destiny;
they can choose their goals and
learn to do whatever is necessary
to achieve them.
Social and cultural factors
(including technology) are the
major determinants of human
affairs.
Human affairs are influenced not
only by social and cultural factors,
but also by intricate linkages of
cause, effect, and feedback in the
web of nature; thus purposive
human actions have many
unintended consequences.
Assumptions about
the context of human
society:
The world is vast, and thus
provides unlimited opportunities
for humans.
Social and cultural environments
are the crucial context for human
affairs, and the biophysical
environment is largely irrelevant.
Humans live in and are dependent
upon a finite biophysical
environment which imposes potent
physical and biological restraints
on human affairs.
Assumptions about
constraints on
human society:
The history of humanity is one of
progress; for every problem there
is a solution, and thus progress
need never cease.
Culture is cumulative; thus
technological and social progress
can continue indefinitely, making
all social problems ultimately
soluble.
Although the inventiveness of
humans and the powers derived
therefrom may seem for a while to
extend carrying capacity limits,
ecological laws cannot be repealed.
Source: William R. Catton, Jr. and Riley Dunlap. “A New Ecological Paradigm for Post-Exuberant Sociology,” American
Behavioral Scientist, 24, no. 1 (Sept./Oct. 1980): 34. Also Carolyn Merchant, Radical Ecology, pp. 90-91.

31. Human Nature

32. Principle of
Biospheric Equality

33. We are an event, not
an ego

35. The Self

36. Dialectical Idealism

39. Christian Tradition