Sustainability: A Philosophical Analysis

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Sustainability A Philosophical Analysis

• Ted Stolze
• Philosophy Club Meeting
• Cerritos College
• (9/22/09)

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A Thought Experiment

• Imagine that life on Earth had evolved without
  the emergence of human beings. But now imagine
  that refugees from another planet, whose
  biosphere they had damaged beyond repair, hoped
  to relocate to Earth. What basic facts would
  they need to know about the Earths biosphere in
  order to avoid destroying it as well? What moral
  principles and values would have to guide them in
  their renewed effort to live in a sustainable
  way?

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The Ecological Problem

• economists have not grasped a simple fact
  that to scientists is obvious the size of the
  Earth as a whole is fixed. Neither the surface
  nor the mass of the planet is growing or
  shrinking. The same is true for energy budgets
  the amount absorbed by the Earth is equal to the
  amount it radiates. The overall size of the
  systemthe amount of water, land, air, minerals
  and other resources present on the planet we live
  onis fixed.
• The most important change on Earth in recent
  times has been the enormous growth of the
  economy, which has taken over an ever greater
  share of the planets resources. In my lifetime,
  world population has tripled, while the numbers
  of livestock, cars, houses and refrigerators have
  increased by vastly more. In fact, our economy is
  now reaching the point where it is outstripping
  Earths ability to sustain it. Resources are
  running out and waste sinks are becoming full.
  The remaining natural world can no longer support
  the existing economy, much less one that
  continues to expand.
• (From Herman Daly, On a Road to Disaster, in
  New Scientist, October 18, 2008, pp. 46-47.)

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What is Sustainability?

• From a human point of view, a sustainable
  society is one that satisfies its needs without
  diminishing the prospects of future generations.
  This ideal is the polar opposite to the ideal of
  unlimited material growth.
• (From Ernest Callenbach, Ecology A Pocket
  Guide, revised and enlarged Berkeley, CA
  University of California Press, 2008, p. 130.)
• A Stronger Definition Sustainability is the
  possibility that humans and other life will
  flourish on the Earth forever.
• (From John R. Ehrenfeld, Sustainability by
  Design New Haven, CT Yale University Press,
  2008, p. 49)

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A Way to Defend (Weak) Sustainability

• 1. Assume that I dont know into which generation
  of human beings I am going to be born.
• 2. It is in my rational self-interest to minimize
  serious threats to my basic needs as a human
  being.
• 3. An important way to minimize serious threats
  to these basic needs is to insure that the global
  economy is ecologically sustainable and has as
  little negative impact as possible from one
  generation to the next.
• 4. Therefore, it is in my rational self-interest
  to insure that the global economy is ecologically
  sustainable.

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Challenging Unsustainable Maxims

• Pick an unsustainable maxim consume as much
  as you can, or dont conserve finite
  resources, or use a disproportionate share of a
  finite good. It doesnt take much to see that
  these maxims cannot be universalized. If
  everyone consumed as much as they could, there
  would be nothing much left to consume.
  Consumption on a certain scale undermines
  consumption itself. If resources werent
  conserved, thered be no resources to use.
  Finally, not everyone can use a disproportionate
  share of a finite good--only proportionate uses
  are possible for everyone. The very fact that
  the maxims are themselves part of an
  unsustainable order means that they could never
  be universal laws, never part of a consistent
  world, never in keeping with the moral law.
• (James Garvey, The Ethics of Climate Change
  Right and Wrong in a Warming World NY
  Continuum, 2008, p. 149)

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A Conceptual Danger

• The great unspoken assumption of the
  sustainability movement is the idea that although
  the economic, political, and social systems that
  have produced our current environmental calamity
  are bad, they do not need to be entirely
  replaced. In fact, the point of sustainability
  often seems to be to preserve--not overthrow--the
  economic and social status quo. What
  sustainability means, deprived of its minty green
  cloak, is to stay the course, in George W.
  Bushs diction.
• (From Curtis White, The Barbaric Heart Faith,
  Money, and the Crisis of Nature Sausilito, CA
  PoliPointPress, 2009, pp. 73-4.)

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An Action to Change the Course

• October 24 International Day of Climate Action
  (see www.350.org)

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