Philosophical Basics of Ecology and Economy

Philosophical Basics of Ecology and Economy PDF

Author: Malte Faber

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2009-09-10

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 1135211566

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In today's world – despite the dramatic anthropogenic environmental changes – a proper understanding of the relationship between humanity and nature requires a certain detachment. The pressing problems in their whole extent will only be fully understood and solved with comprehensive and patient analysis. Accordingly, this book develops new perspectives on fundamental questions of biology, ecology, and the economy, integrated within a framework of a terminology specially devised by the authors. By illuminating the epistemological backgrounds of ecological-economic research, the authors lay foundations for interdisciplinary environmental research and offer guidelines for practical action. In close contact to the findings of present-day biology and economics, they demonstrate the fruitfulness as well as the shortcomings of modern science for the understanding of the proper place of humankind in nature. Many of the book's central concepts are rooted in a tradition whose origins go back to European philosophy and literature of the 17th Century. Frequently current problems in the fields of economics, ecology, politics, philosophy and biology are discussed in a kind of "dialogue" with thinkers and poets like Bacon, Quesnay, Kant, Goethe and Novalis. This approach of the book, known in Continental European Philosophy as hermeneutics, offers a ‘map’, rather than marking out a specific course. On the other hand, the book offers traits of the Anglo-Saxon tradition of thought: a precise, analytical approach to theory and a pragmatic approach to action. Both approaches are used by the authors complementarily. Thus the authors lay the foundations for an ecological economical and political practice which is able to tackle concrete environmental problems on an encompassing and long-term basis. This translated volume will be of great use and interest to students of ecology, economics and in particular environmental education, sustainable development and environmental ethics.

Parallax of Growth

Parallax of Growth PDF

Author: Ole Bjerg

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2018-03-15

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 150950625X

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Parallax of Growth explores the ideas of economy and ecology and the factors that have put them on a collision course. Bjerg argues that our current mode of economic organization is characterized by an inherent debt drive, whereby the creation of money through the issuance of commercial bank credit has locked our economy into a vicious circle of forced growth and increasing debt. Parallax of Growth is not a catalogue of solutions to the ecological or the economic crisis. The book aims to shift the inquiry from what shall we do? to why have we not already done it? In order to address the challenges of our contemporary times of crisis, we need to understand how the idea of growth is deeply ingrained in the ideology as well as the organization of our society. The book aims to open the space for philosophical thinking about this important issue.

The Politics of Sustainability

The Politics of Sustainability PDF

Author: Dieter Birnbacher

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-05-15

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 1317521293

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Responsibility for future generations is easily postulated in the abstract but it is much more difficult to set it to work in the concrete. It requires some changes in individual and institutional attitudes that are in opposition to what has been called the "systems variables" of industrial society: individual freedom, consumerism, and equality. The Politics of Sustainability from Philosophical Perspectives seeks to examine the motivational and institutional obstacles standing in the way of a consistent politics of sustainability and to look for strategies to overcome them. It argues that though there have been significant changes in individual and especially collective attitudes to growth, intergenerational solidarity and nature preservation, it is far from certain whether these will be sufficient to encourage politicians into giving sustainable policies priority over other legitimate concerns. Having a philosophical approach as its main focus, the volume is at the same time interdisciplinary in combining political, psychological, ecological and economic analyses. This book will be a contribution to the joint effort to meet the theoretical and practical challenges posed by climate change and other impending global perils and will be of interest to students of environmental studies, applied ethics and environmental psychology.

The Economy of the Earth

The Economy of the Earth PDF

Author: Mark Sagoff

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2007-12-03

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 1139468006

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Mark Sagoff draws on the last twenty years of debate over the foundations of environmentalism in this comprehensive revision of The Economy of the Earth. Posing questions pertinent to consumption, cost-benefit analysis, the normative implications of neo-Darwinism, the role of the natural in national history, and the centrality of the concept of place in environmental ethics, he analyses social policy in relation to the environment, pollution, the workplace, and public safely and health. Sagoff distinguishes ethical from economic questions and explains which kinds of concepts, arguments, and processes are appropriate to each. He offers a critique 'preference' and 'willingness to pay' as measures of value in environmental economics and defends political, cultural, aesthetic, and ethical reasons to protect the natural environment.

Transformative Ecological Economics

Transformative Ecological Economics PDF

Author: Ove Jakobsen

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2017-04-21

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 1351794019

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When we look at the state of the world today, what is most evident is the fact that the major problems of our time – energy, environment, economy, climate change and social justice – cannot be understood in isolation. They are interconnected problems, which means that they require corresponding systemic solutions. Today’s global economy has brought about critical distress for ecosystems and societies and we have to go to the very root of the problems to find a way out. This volume develops a synthesized interpretation of ecological economics integrating different levels: (economic) system, (business) practice and the (economic) actor. It discusses how changes on a systems level are connected to changes in practice and development of individual consciousness. Transformative Ecological Economics delves into the insight and knowledge from different sources of inspiration (thermodynamics, Darwinism, anthroposophy and Buddhism) as well as into an integrated story describing and illustrating the core ideas, principles and values that characterize a utopian society anchored in ecological economics. Implementation of the deep changes demanded depends on our ability to write a new story, a utopian one for sure, but one which is in accordance with and based on the reality in which we live. This book will be of interest to those who study ecological economics, political economy and environmental economics.

The Environmental Ethics and Policy Book Philosophy, Ecology, Economics

The Environmental Ethics and Policy Book Philosophy, Ecology, Economics PDF

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2015

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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Using a philosophical approach this book explores ethical aspects of the treatment of nonhumans, the planet, and its resources by humans. Questions of what we have done to the planet, what we are doing now, and what should be done differently are explored as is the question as to whether beings other than humans have a value of their own, not just one assigned by humans.

Sustainability Beyond Technology

Sustainability Beyond Technology PDF

Author: Pasi Heikkurinen

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021-03-29

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0192634070

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Current debates on sustainability are largely building on a problematic assumption that increasing technology use and advancement are a desired phenomenon, creating positive change in human organizations. This kind of techno-optimism prevails particularly in the discourses of ecological modernization and green growth, as well as in the attempts to design sustainable modes of production and consumption within growth-driven capitalism. This transdisciplinary book investigates the philosophical underpinnings of technology, presents a culturally sensitive critique to technology, and outlines feasible alternatives for sustainability beyond technology. It draws on a variety of scholarly disciplines, including the humanities (philosophy and environmental history), social sciences (ecological economics, political economy, and ecology) and natural sciences (geology and thermodynamics) to contribute to sustainability theory and policy. By examining the conflicts and contradictions between technology and sustainability in human organization, the book develops a novel way to conceptualize, confront, and change technology in modern society.

Valuing the Earth, second edition

Valuing the Earth, second edition PDF

Author: Herman E. Daly

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 1992-11-24

Total Pages: 404

ISBN-13: 9780262260565

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Valuing the Earth collects more than twenty classic and recent essays that broaden economic thinking by setting the economy in its proper ecological and ethical context. They vividly demonstrate that, contrary to current macroeconomic preoccupations, continued growth on a planet of finite resources cannot be physically or economically sustained and is morally undesirable. Among the issues addressed are population growth, resource use, pollution, theology (east and west), energy, and economic growth. Their common theme is the notion, popular with classical economists from Malthus to Mill, that an economic stationary state is more healthful to life on earth than unlimited growth. A number of essays in the first edition have become classics and have been retained for this edition, which adds six new essays. Contributors Kenneth E. Boulding, John Cobb, Herman E. Daly, Anne H. Ehrlich, Paul R. Ehrlich, Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, Garrett Hardin, John P. Holdren, M. King Hubbert, C. S. Lewis, E. F. Schumacher, Gerald Alonzo Smith, T. H. Tietenberg, Kenneth N. Townsend

Environment and Social Theory

Environment and Social Theory PDF

Author: John Barry

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2005-07-28

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 1134691491

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Written in an accessible and jargon-free way, Environment and Social Theory examines: * the historical relationship between social theory and the environment *pre-Enlightenment and Enlightenment social theory and the environment * twentieth century social theory and the environment * economic theory and the environment * the relationship between ecology, biology and social theory * recent theoretical approaches to the environment * the development of a green social theory The ideas and vies of key theorists including Hobbes, Locke, freud, Habermas, Giddens and Beck are discussed to provide comprehensive coverage of social theory for non-specialist readers.