Ecosophy or ecophilosophy (a portmanteau of
ecological philosophy) is a philosophy of
ecological harmony or equilibrium.
The term was coined by the French post-structuralist
philosopher and psychoanalyst Félix Guattari
and the Norwegian father of deep ecology,
Arne Næss.
== Félix Guattari ==
Ecosophy also refers to a field of practice
introduced by psychoanalyst, poststructuralist
philosopher, and political activist Félix
Guattari.
In part Guattari's use of the term demarcates
a necessity for the proponents of social liberation,
whose struggles in the 20th century were dominated
by the paradigm of social revolution, to embed
their arguments within an ecological framework
which understands the interconnections of
social and environmental spheres.
Guattari holds that traditional environmentalist
perspectives obscure the complexity of the
relationship between humans and their natural
environment through their maintenance of the
dualistic separation of human (cultural) and
nonhuman (natural) systems; he envisions ecosophy
as a new field with a monistic and pluralistic
approach to such study.
Ecology in the Guattarian sense, then, is
a study of complex phenomena, including human
subjectivity, the environment, and social
relations, all of which are intimately interconnected.
Despite this emphasis on interconnection,
throughout his individual writings and more
famous collaborations with Gilles Deleuze,
Guattari has resisted calls for holism, preferring
to emphasize heterogeneity and difference,
synthesizing assemblages and multiplicities
in order to trace rhizomatic structures rather
than creating unified and holistic structures.
Without modifications to the social and material
environment, there can be no change in mentalities.
Here, we are in the presence of a circle that
leads me to postulate the necessity of founding
an "ecosophy" that would link environmental
ecology to social ecology and to mental ecology.
Guattari's concept of the three interacting
and interdependent ecologies of mind, society,
and environment stems from the outline of
the three ecologies presented in Steps to
an Ecology of Mind, a collection of writings
by cyberneticist Gregory Bateson.
== Næss's definition ==
Naess defined ecosophy in the following way:
By an ecosophy I mean a philosophy of ecological
harmony or equilibrium.
A philosophy as a kind of sofia (or) wisdom,
is openly normative, it contains both norms,
rules, postulates, value priority announcements
and hypotheses concerning the state of affairs
in our universe.
Wisdom is policy wisdom, prescription, not
only scientific description and prediction.
The details of an ecosophy will show many
variations due to significant differences
concerning not only the 'facts' of pollution,
resources, population, etc. but also value
priorities.
While a professor at University of Oslo in
1972, Arne Næss, introduced the terms "deep
ecology movement" and "ecosophy" into environmental
literature.
Naess based his article on a talk he gave
in Bucharest in 1972 at the Third World Future
Research Conference.
As Drengson notes in Ecophilosophy, Ecosophy
and the Deep Ecology Movement: An Overview,
"In his talk Næss discussed the longer-range
background of the ecology movement and its
connection with respect for Nature and the
inherent worth of other beings."
Naess's view of humans as an integral part
of a "total-field image" of Nature contrasts
with the alternative construction of ecosophy
outlined by Guattari.
The term ecological wisdom, synonymous with
ecosophy, was introduced by Næss in 1973.
The concept has become one of the foundations
of the deep ecology movement.
All expressions of values by Green Parties
list ecological wisdom as a key value—it
was one of the original Four Pillars of the
Green Party and is often considered the most
basic value of these parties.
It is also often associated with indigenous
religion and cultural practices.
In its political context, it is necessarily
not as easily defined as ecological health
or scientific ecology concepts.
== See also ==
Ecology
Global Greens Charter
Green syndicalism
Simple living
Spiritual ecology
Sustainable living
Yin and yang
Environmental philosophy
== Notes
