Ecology
Arne Naess was Norway’s best-known philosopher, whose concept of deep ecology enriched and divided the environmental movement. Through his books and lectures, Naess taught that ecology should not be concerned with man’s place in nature but with every part of nature on an equal basis, because the natural order has a value that transcends human values. Indeed, humans could only attain “realisation of the self ” as part of an entire ecosphere. Shallow ecology, he believed, meant thinking big ecological problems could be resolved within an industrial, capitalist society. Deep ecology meant understanding that society has caused the Earth-threatening ecological crisis. His concept entered the mainstream green movement in the 1980s.