Integral Ecology and the Anthropocene

Abstract

After nearly 12,000 years living in the Holocene geological age we have now arrived in the Anthropocene. Now, instead of an integral ecology that considers the world as having its ecology, economy, and justice systematically linked, we are confronted by an ecology dominated by a profit-driven economy.

Since its very first beginnings, Western philosophy has reflected on humanity’s relationship with nature. Is the history of Western philosophy, then, merely a reflection of the evolution of humanity from the Holocene to the Anthropocene? Or did Western philosophical thought, along with industrialization and economic development, play a far bigger part and was it, indeed, the regulator of this evolution?

Our spontaneous care for nature – not at any price or exclusively – has led to an elegy. However rereading Western philosophy can help us to discover that the evolution toward the Anthropocene could challenge man to descry meaning behind nature. The way man regulates nature can be oriented toward rediscovering meaning behind nature. And the question of transcendence cannot be avoided.

Citation

Opdebeeck, H. (2017), "Integral Ecology and the Anthropocene", Integral Ecology and Sustainable Business (Contributions to Conflict Management, Peace Economics and Development, Vol. 26), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 79-88. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1572-832320170000026006