Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
Commonality arises at the trunk of the tree, into which all the roots flow. Here we
encounter the deep ecology platform, a set of eight points formulated by Arne Naess and
the American philosopher George Sessions, with which most people inclined towards
deep ecology would generally agree.
The Deep Ecology Platform
1. All life has value in itself, independent of its usefulness to humans.
2. Richness and diversity contribute to life's well-being and have value in them-
selves.
3. Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vi-
tal needs in a responsible way.
4. The impact of humans in the world is excessive and rapidly getting worse.
5. Human lifestyles and population are key elements of this impact.
6. The diversity of life, including cultures, can flourish only with reduced human
impact.
7. Basic ideological, political, economic and technological structures must there-
fore change.
8. Those who accept the foregoing points have an obligation to participate in im-
plementing the necessary changes and to do so peacefully and democratically.
(This version of the Deep Ecology Platform was created by participants at Schu-
macher College in May 1995.)
Notice that the platform begins with a statement from the realm of deep experience—we
cannot rationally justify the first point, but we know what it means if it is consistent with
our deep sense of belonging to an animate cosmos. The last point is about action, which
is what makes deep ecology a movement as much as a philosophy.
