Thursday, January 15, 2009

Arne Naess, RIP

Helmut alerts us to the death of Arne Naess, the Norwegian philosopher who was the father of deep ecology. I'm actually not a fan of deep ecology; I feel that any environmentalism that is not human-centered is bound to fail politically. However, there's no question that if more people subscribed to Naess' ideas, our world would be much, much better. He helped us understand that all species had equal value, with nothing less or more valuable than humans. I agree with this, but can only say that it's politically untenable. By centering environmentalism around human concerns, especially safety and bodily health, we can also protect other species. But for this selfish species, human concerns will always be first.

Arne Naess, RIP