Three ecological approaches: fundamentalist, authoritarian or democratic ?

Abstract

Ecological philosophies have in common the rejection of the "economic ideology", that is of the joint affirmation of the autonomy of economic activities and subjective rights enjoyed by the individuals-producers. This rejection, supported by the economic ideological crisis, opens up a whole gamut of theoretical stances, ranging from total rejection to the minimal rejection of the ideology in question. The awareness of the final character of the resources and the structural unemployment experienced over the past twenty years by the economies of industrialised countries, constitute the most important aspects of the economic ideology crisis. Three approaches are postulated - fundamentalist, authoritarian and democratic - based on the philosophies of several ecological leaders. The fundamentalist ecological approach is the most radical version. It rejects economic ideology, including individualism, in its entirety: nature is considered to have a value that is intrinsic, i.e. absolute, and thus independent of all attempts at assessment or human affirmation. The authoritarian approach puts forward a less radical rejection of economic ideology and in particular proposes the principle of responsibility (Hans Jonas). It is not a question of instituting rights of nature. However, our obligations with respect to future generations encompass duties to nature. We should renounce our liberal and democratic institutions and break away from technical utopias. The democratic approach is represented, among others, by the thinking of Ivan Illich and André Gorz who reject all form of expertocracy and remain committed to the idea of a society based on the rights of man. They reject, however, the independence of the cycle of economic activities with respect to nature and other aspects of society. The problem is to know whether we shall succeed, using the means available to democracies, with the support of public opinion that is aware of environmental problems, in reducing significantly the degradation that we are inflicting on the biosphere.