Philosophy on deep ecology

Profile: Alan Drengson

Thu, 09 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Alan Drengson (1934-2022) was a Canadian philosopher and educator who served as close collaborator with Arne Naess and founding editor of The Trumpeter journal, becoming a key voice in articulating and spreading deep ecology philosophy in North America.

As Professor of Philosophy at the University of Victoria, Drengson founded The Trumpeter: Journal of Ecosophy in 1983, providing the first academic journal dedicated to deep ecology and ecophilosophy. Through decades of editorial work, he created space for diverse voices exploring relationships between philosophy, ecology, and spiritual practice.

Profile: George Sessions

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

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 years, where he served as department chair.

Sessions co-authored Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered (1985) with Bill Devall, one of the first comprehensive presentations of deep ecology philosophy for North American readers. The book examined the philosophical, psychological, and social dimensions of the environmental movement, proposing an ecocentric rather than anthropocentric approach to nature.

Profile: Baruch Spinoza

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was a Dutch philosopher whose pantheistic philosophy influenced Arne Naess’s development of deep ecology. Writing in the 17th century, Spinoza proposed a monistic view of reality in which God and Nature are identified as one substance.

In his major work Ethics, completed in 1677, Spinoza uses the formula “Deus sive Natura” (God or Nature). He proposes that only one infinite substance exists, and that everything we experience is a mode or expression of this single reality. This view dissolves distinctions between the divine and the natural world.

Profile: Bayo Akomolafe

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Bayo Akomolafe is a Nigerian psychologist, author, and philosopher who offers decolonial perspectives on mental health, spirituality, and environmental activism. Trained in Western psychology but rooted in Yoruba cosmology, he proposes “post-activist” approaches that examine assumptions about agency and social change.

Akomolafe’s philosophy emphasizes “slowing down” and “composting” - allowing old systems and identities to decompose so that new possibilities can emerge. Through The Emergence Network, he facilitates conversations about decolonizing research, education, and activism. His work examines how indigenous African philosophies can contribute to environmental movements while maintaining cultural sovereignty.

Profile: Val Plumwood

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Val Plumwood was an Australian ecofeminist philosopher whose rigorous critique of dualism revealed how Western philosophy’s hierarchical separation of reason from nature, mind from body, and human from animal justified both environmental destruction and social oppression. Her work demonstrated that ecological and feminist struggles share common philosophical roots.

Plumwood’s masterwork “Feminism and the Mastery of Nature” (1993) analyzed how Western thought constructs dualisms that enable domination. Pairs like reason/nature, male/female, and human/animal reinforce each other in what she called “the logic of colonization” - where the inferior (nature, women, animals) becomes resource for the superior.

Profile: Francisco Varela

Sun, 28 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Francisco Varela (1946-2001) was a Chilean biologist, philosopher, and cognitive scientist who developed theories of autopoiesis and enactive cognition. His work integrated biological research with contemplative traditions to examine the nature of life and consciousness.

Working with Humberto Maturana, Varela developed the theory of autopoiesis - the process by which living systems continuously create and maintain themselves through recursive interactions with their environments. They proposed that life involves co-creation of organism and world through ongoing structural coupling rather than simple adaptation to pre-existing conditions.

quote-all-living-beings-have-intrinsic-value-arne-naess

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

“All living beings have intrinsic value.” – Arne Naess

Source: Ecology, Community and Lifestyle

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Thu, 25 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

“Deep ecology asks for a radical rethinking of values, not only technology.” – Arne Naess

Source: Ecology, Community and Lifestyle

quote-identification-not-moralizing-often-leads-to-arne-naess

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

“Identification, not moralizing, often leads to beautiful actions.” – Arne Naess

Source: Ecology, Community and Lifestyle

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Thu, 25 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

“Self-realization means widening the self: identification with a larger Self.” – Arne Naess

Source: Ecology, Community and Lifestyle

quote-the-ultimate-aims-of-deep-ecology-arne-naess

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

“The ultimate aims of deep ecology can be summarized in a simple imperative: maximize self-realization! In other words, maximize our potential as living beings. We need beings to awaken.” – Arne Naess

Source: Ecology, Community and Lifestyle

Quote: John Seed; "Deep ecology looks at the spiritual disease..."

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

“Deep ecology looks at the spiritual disease that underlies the environmental crisis: the illusion of separation between humans and the rest of the natural world… In order to nourish our ecological identity, Naess called for the development of community therapies “which heal our relations with the widest community, that of all living beings.” — John Seed

Profile: Ailton Krenak

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Ailton Krenak (born 1953) is a Brazilian indigenous intellectual, environmental activist, and leader of the Krenak people of Minas Gerais. He advocates for indigenous rights, environmental protection, and presents indigenous perspectives on human-nature relationships.

Krenak gained recognition during Brazil’s constitutional assembly in the 1980s, where he painted his face black while speaking to Congress, symbolizing indigenous peoples’ mourning. This act of resistance became notable in indigenous advocacy against colonization.

Profile: Arne Naess