Deep Ecology

Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess coined the term deep ecology in 1973 to describe a philosophical method of inquiry that sought deeper relationships to the natural world that views humans as embedded in nature rather than separate from it. Influenced by Rachel Carson's Silent Spring that documented the negative human intervention in the environment through the use of pesticides, he sought to combine ecological awareness with nonviolent action based on Gandhian principles. Naess developed his Eight-Point Deep Ecology Platform as a method of considering an interconnected and reciprocal relation between humans and nature, rather than the anthropocentric or human-centered view that inserted a dualistic split between the two. Seeking the answers to how we should live in the world, often situated in a cabin high in ...