The importance of understanding the philosophical underpinnings of various approaches to sustainability
posted by Lisa Satin on July 1st, 2008 Go to comments
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I recently read a thought provoking article in the European Molecular Biology Organization Journal (EMBO), “How Sustainable are We?: Facing the Environmental Impact of Modern Society?” by Donald Bruce. (Note: This article was one of several on the special topic of sustainability in the journal called, EMBO reports. Access is limited to subscriptions; however, most research universities have Institutional access via the Nature Publishing Group. The link is: http://www.nature.com/embor/journal/v9/n1s/full/embor2008106.html
For those who like to visit the library and read from paper, The journal is EMBO reports, vol.9, special issue, p. s37)
The ideas expressed in this article highlight the importance of an interdisciplinary approach for a sustainability curriculum which would include sociology, philosophy and history. This article discusses the philosophical underpinnings behind the types of technology innovations which have been embraced by society. The article begins by stating that technologies are not neutral – they embody the values that created them and in turn influence a society’s perspective regarding how people co-exist with nature. Four general philosophical models are outlined in the article: the ownership model in which progress is defined only in terms of sustainable economic growth, the partnership model in which innovation is embraced if the innovator can show that there would be no adverse harm to nature, the eco-centric model which disapproves of people interfering with nature, and the maintenance model in which innovation is encouraged unless it can be shown, by the objector, that the innovation would result in serious harm to nature. When evaluating how our society is addressing the crisis of climate change, it is useful to understand the values underlying our overall approach. For example, if the predominate approach to addressing climate change is to develop sources of renewable energy by producing bio-fuels or by building plants to convert coal into fuel, we are engaged primarily in the ownership model. If the predominant approach of our society is on developing new technologies to help us use less fuel and becoming more energy efficient, our society is primarily engaged in the partnership model. And if the predominant approach of our society is to encourage people to drive less, live closer to work, change our mode of working (ie. enabling more people to work at home) etc., we would primarily be engaged in the eco-centric model. It is useful to have an appreciation of the values which various approaches embody in order to properly evaluate them when making choices. What philosophical values underlie support for a carbon tax system as opposed to a carbon cap system? I would like to hear your ideas regarding how a sustainability curriculum can educate students to better assess various policy approaches involving our relationship with the environment by understanding the philosophies behind them, so that they can more effectively determine where to focus their advocacy efforts and can become more articulate and focused when discussing the pros and cons of a particular approach.