Ecopoiesis
= “The notion of ecopoiesis .. focuses attention on all the conditions for living the best possible life, not only of individuals but of communities at all scales, including broader biotic communities”. [1]
Description
“According to Aristotle, politics is about organizing society to enable people to live the best possible lives. This is the first principle or Arche of politics. The best possible life is a fulfilling and fulfilled life achieved through the pursuit of excellence. It is achieved by participating in public life concerned to uphold the conditions for living the best life and participating in efforts to advance knowledge. The complexity of the modern world has led to cynicism about or complete ignorance of this claimed first principle of politics. The notion of ecopoiesis facilitates its updating. It focuses attention on all the conditions for living the best possible life, not only of individuals but of communities at all scales, including broader biotic communities. Humanity should be conceived of as communities of communities, participating in these broader biotic communities, and the whole of humanity should aim to augment the conditions of its multi-level component communities to realize their potential to augment the life of all these communities. These conditions of life are their “homes,” extending this notion to include the “home” of humanity – the current regime of the global ecosystem, the “homes” of national communities, local regions, cities and towns and non-human organisms and biotic communities, as well as the homes of individuals and families. A good “home” for people is not only a matter of architecture and town planning; it is one in which they have security, can realize their potential to augment life, can assert themselves without fear of retribution, and can govern themselves. Homes are the condition for genuine communities and for living a fulling life by augmenting the life of these communities. A successful precursor to such politics was the policy of ‘folkhemmet’ of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1932 to 1976 – conceiving society as the ‘people’s home’ with no unwanted stepchildren.” (https://www.academia.edu/43252621/Toward_an_Ecological_Civilization_-_An_Interview_with_Arran_Gare?}
Discussion
From an interview by A.I. Kopytin:
- “AK: What are the ethics and politics of ecopoiesis? Is it possible to create a global civilization that empowers people to augment their ecological communities?
Arran Gare: The ethics and politics of ecopoiesis involve the claim that a good,fulfilling life is achieved by living to augment life. Once this is understood, the opposition between self-interest and morality can be overcome. Our ‘homes’ should be providing the conditions to develop our full potential to augment the life of our human and broader biotic communities, and the struggle for life should be seen as the struggle to augment these homes and thereby our power to augment life. This is what liberty is all about, not freedom from constraints to exploit others and consume endlessly. The goal of politics should be to uphold and advance such liberty. The first condition for achieving liberty is having a clear idea of what we should be aiming at, and then working out how to achieve these ultimate ends. Ecological thinking, granting a central place to ecopoiesis, allows us not only to define our ends but to rethink how to go about achieving these ends through augmenting the conditions for the life and liberty of others, providing them with the niches where they themselves can work towards these ends, rather than reducing others to predictable instruments.
- AK: Do you believe that conceptions of what humans are is at the core of cultures and that redefining humanity from the ecopoiesis perspective could help to resolve the major cultural, social and political conflicts within civilization?
AG: This I do believe. That conceptions of humans are the core of cultures became evident through comparative studies of cultures via history and anthropology. The current dominant conception of humans tacitly accepting a form of Cartesian dualism leads people to see nature as simply there to be controlled, or occasionally, to function as pleasant spectacles. An ecopoietic perspective situates us within nature,appreciating ourselves as components of the homes of others, both human and non-human, including huge numbers of micro-organisms which make up a significant part of our biomass and without which our bodies could not function. It forces us to appreciate our dependence on the life of ecosystems and to appreciate that we ourselves are part of the homes of others, and that living virtuously augments the homes of other members of our communities and augments the life of these communities.”
Source
- Kopytin, A.I. (2020). Toward an ecological civilization - an interview with Arran Gare. Ecopoiesis: Eco-Human Theory and Practice, 1 (1). [2]
