deep ecology
practices for awakening and resilience in a changing world
Deep ecology is not just a pragmatic, short-term social movement. It attempts to question and present alternatives to conventional ways of thinking in the modern West.
Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vital needs.
Present human interference with the nonhuman world is excessive, and the situation is rapidly worsening.
Richness and diversity of life forms contribute to the realization of these values and are also values in themselves.
The Council of All Beings allows us to step aside from our human identity and speak on behalf of the other species and ecosystems with whom we share this Earth.
The environmental/ecology movement has been a response to the awareness by many people that something is drastically wrong, out of balance in our contemporary culture.
The ideological change is mainly that of appreciating life quality rather than adhering to an increasingly higher standard of living.
The well-being and flourishing of human and nonhuman Life on Earth have value in themselves. These values are independent of the usefulness of the non-human world for human purposes.
The work of many ecologists has encouraged the adoption of an ecological consciousness, changing the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land community to plain member and citizen of it.
This book is an attempt at codifying a scattered body of ecological insight into a philosophy that places human beings on an absolutely equal footing with all other creatures on the planet.
Those who subscribe to the foregoing points have an obligation directly or indirectly to participate in the attempt to implement the necessary changes.
We may not need a new ecological philosophy, but need to reawaken something very old, to reawaken our understanding of Earth wisdom.
We need to accept the invitation to the dance - the dance of unity of humans, plants, animals, the Earth. We need to cultivate an ecological consciousness.
When we think like a mountain, we begin to understand the patience of geological time and the wisdom of ecosystems.
Bill Devall (1938-2009) was an American sociologist who co-authored Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered (1985) with George Sessions. The book introduced deep ecology philosophy to North …
George Sessions (1938-2016) was an American philosopher who co-developed the Deep Ecology Platform with Arne Naess. He taught philosophy at Sierra College in Rocklin, California for nearly fifty …
Pat Fleming is a deep ecology facilitator who co-authored Thinking Like a Mountain (1988) with John Seed, Joanna Macy, and Arne Naess. She has conducted experiential deep ecology workshops for over …