Beneath the Surface : Critical Essays in the Philosophy of Deep Ecology

by Eric Katz, Andrew Light and David Rothenberg (Eds.)

• ISBN13: 9780262611497
• ISBN10: 026261149X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-06-09
• Publisher: Mit Pr

Summary

The philosophy of deep ecology originated in the 1970s with the Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess and has since spread around the world. Its basic premises are a belief in the intrinsic value of nonhuman nature, a belief that ecological principles should dictate human actions and moral evaluations, an emphasis on noninterference into natural processes, and a critique of materialism and technological progress. This book approaches deep ecology as a philosophy, not as a political, social, or environmental movement. In part I, the authors compare deep ecology's philosophical ideas with other positions and debates in environmental philosophy and to other schools of thought such as social ecology, ecofeminism, and moral pluralism. In part II, they investigate the connections between deep ecology and other contemporary world views, such as continental philosophy, postmodernism, and non-Western philosophical traditions. The first anthology on deep ecology that is not primarily the work of the movement's followers, Beneath the Surfaceoffers a rigorous assessment of deep ecology's strengths and weaknesses as a philosophical position. Contributors: John Clark, Deane Curtin, Arran Gare, William Grey, Mathew Humphrey, Knut Jacobsen, Eric Katz, Andrew Light, Jonathan Maskit, Val Plumwood, David Rothenberg, Ariel Salleh, Bron Taylor, Michael Zimmerman.

Table of Contents

About the Contributors	vii
Introduction: Deep Ecology as Philosophy	ix
Eric Katz
Andrew Light
David Rothenberg
I Deep Ecology and Its Critics	1	(148)
How Wide Is Deep Ecology?	3	(14)
John Clark
Against the Inevitability of Anthropocentrism	17	(26)
Eric Katz
A Critique of Deep Green Theory	43	(16)
William Grey
Deep Ecology, Deep Pockets, and Deep Problems: A Feminist Ecosocialist Analysis	59	(26)
Val Plumwood
Ontological Determinism and Deep Ecology: Evading the Moral Questions?	85	(22)
Mathew Humphrey
In Defense of Deep Ecology: An Ecofeminist Response to a Liberal Critique	107	(18)
Ariel Salleh
Callicott and Naess on Pluralism	125	(24)
Andrew Light
II New Horizons for Deep Ecology	149	(152)
No World but in Things: The Poetry of Naess's Concrete Contents	151	(18)
David Rothenberg
Possible Political Problems of Earth-Based Religiosity	169	(26)
Michael E. Zimmerman
The Postmodernism of Deep Ecology, the Deep Ecology of Postmodernism, and Grand Narratives	195	(20)
Arran Gare
Deep Ecology and Desire: On Naess and the Problem of Consumption	215	(16)
Jonathan Maskit
Bhagavadgita, Ecosophy T, and Deep Ecology	231	(22)
Knut A. Jacobsen
A State of Mind Like Water: Ecosophy T and the Buddhist Traditions	253	(16)
Deane Curtin
Deep Ecology and Its Social Philosophy: A Critique	269	(32)
Bron Taylor
Bibliography	301	(20)
Index	321