Meaning of deep ecology | Babel Free

Definitions

An ecological and environmental philosophy that advocates the inherent worth of living beings regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs.

uncountable

Examples

“Shallow ecology is anthropocentric, or human-centered. It views humans as above our outside of nature, as the source of all value, and ascribes only instrumental, or “use,” value to nature. Deep ecology does not separate humans—or anything else—from the natural environment.”

“In the early 1970s, after three decades teaching philosophy at the University of Oslo, Mr. Naess (pronounced Ness), an enthusiastic mountain climber and an admirer of Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring,” threw himself into environmental work and developed a theory that he called deep ecology.”

“In the 1980s, some eco-philosophers interpreted the influential German philosopher Martin Heidegger as a forerunner of the deep ecology movement, because he condemned techno-industrial modernity's assault on nature and called instead on humans to “let things be” (Zimmermann 1983; Foltz 1995).”

CEFR level