Deep ecology

Deep ecology is an environmental philosophy holding that living beings have inherent worth regardless of their usefulness to human needs, and that modern human societies should be restructured in accordance with this view. Its defining feature is a total integration of the human person in nature: humans are not above, over, or outside the natural environment, but part of a web of relationships in which each organism depends on the existence of others within ecosystems.

The term was coined in 1973 by the Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss in a paper that presented it as a theoretical proposal, though it soon became a social movement as well. Næss placed the deepest motivation in intuitive and spiritual premises rather than in purely technical arguments. Among its precursors are the writings of Rachel Carson, whose book Silent Spring (1962) is often considered a starting point for the movement, and the photographs of Earth taken from space during the Apollo missions. Bill Devall and George Sessions systematized its ideas in the book Deep Ecology (1985), setting out eight principles, including that the well-being of nonhuman life has intrinsic value and that humans have no right to reduce biological diversity except to satisfy vital needs.

Deep ecology differs from mainstream environmentalism, which is often anthropocentric and seeks to conserve the environment for human use. Its advocates question the idea that nature is a resource freely available for exploitation, and point out that many indigenous cultures sustained environmentally sound societies for millennia. They call for a paradigm shift that goes beyond eliminating capitalism or the notion of economic growth, involving changes to technological, economic and ideological systems. Some thinkers propose a gradual reduction of the human population, though without drastic solutions.

The movement has been criticised for the difficulty of turning its principles into concrete policy and for its possible implications for human freedom and social justice, prompting debate over how to reconcile the value of nature with human needs. Its ideas survive today in ecocentrism, environmental ethics, and currents such as human deep ecology, which seek to reconcile nature and culture.