Eco Philosophy Essay Example
Eco Philosophy Essay Example

Eco Philosophy Essay Example

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Sustainability: Eco-Philosophy Abstract Sustainability is a concept to maintain or sustain something of good qualities or something from deteriorating. It is like creating a balance between human’s activity and nature.

This concept is emerged to rectify the developing scientific agreement that there are major environmental problems occurring globally in big scale gradually along the years[1].

I agree on this strongly as I have read through a lot on the news article on the BBC website most of the time and from some books, like “The nature of sustainable development” & “Architecture 2000 and Beyond”, on the environmental problems since I was back in my high school education.

The main objectives of the worldwide sustainability effort and movements are to heal the sick earth and to maintain ample natural resources and maintain the good a

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nd healthy part of the environment like the nature for the future generation 2]

I believe in that as there are photographs which I have taken from the past when I was a kid and now, i saw the difference and I know instantly we have not take in consideration further of our environment we are going to lose all the beautiful memories and experiences of the certain place, environment which we are being a able to share with the future generation like ours kids or grandchildren gradually It is a personal experience which is a vivid memory in me.

Read also Quizzes and Midterm Q&A

There is a lots of studies and prediction from books by theorist like Charles Jencks and professor of University like Sharon Beder who wrote on how human activities which contribute to the environmental problems.

This is very true in fact as the Video, “Koyanniquatsi�

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by Godfrey Reggio which shows how the modern world (depicts human’s activity) destroy the environment gradually by showing the images with music by Philip Glass[3].

This video would leave a deep impression to one and make one to stop and think back about the memory and knowledge one have had in touch with the nature.

It is vital for us to understand & study the problems and source of the problems and focus on them and come out with a solution through understanding of the concept of the sustainability. This is Eco-Philosophy which is explained in Darko’s First introduction in Environmental Design. Eco Philosophy constitute of Environmental, Social, Ethical, Cultural, Political and Economical Sustainability. All the 6 types of sustainability focus and resolve different issue but however they are closely related to one another.

Our photographs are often being classified as landscapes, objects, portraits, art and architecture which tell the different story of the past culture, tradition and childhood memories in term of clothes, background as in the environment, materials and details in the photography. All the photographs are related in a certain way which is the experience of taking the photographs at the certain moment with the sound of the shutter closing and opening to capture the shot which I share the same feeling with Roland Barthes. The greatest satisfaction is when one sees the product of the photos being taken.

Similarly when one go through the experience of trying to understand and study of the problems and source of the problems and you come out with the solution that heal the earth and when the result is a success it enable the future generation to feel and

see the nature world you once experience. The photos often depict the little detail that catches your eyes instantly. Similarly it is critical for one to have a broad view of the world / earth and one should be able to make wise choices on how to live our day to day lives keeping earth in mind. Introduction

There is prediction by Charles Jencks on the events which might affect the world in the future up to year of 2030. The events are classified under specified category taking for instance in the “Architecture 2000 and Beyond” by Charles Jencks.

Charles Jencks main prediction focus of the problems is on the politics, social and economy / ecology aspect which would change the world[4].

There is different aspect of political problems. Charles Jencks relates political events to the Ownership of nuclear, Wars, Migration of people within Africa, Terrorism and the big gap between the poor and rich countries4.

There is another aspect on how policy maker would compromise on our condition of our environment taking for instance in term of pollution control for economy of a country [5] .

It is like a struggle to choose a cheap and most effective green environment / nature to me. This is linked to ethical problem of the policy maker and community indirectly5. Taking for instance some organization came out with a policy for company to pay the full price of environmental damage yet this is like telling others you can pollute as long as you have money as it won’t make a different to the environment as it has caused so much damage. Hence it is critical for organization to have a goal like

what David Lisstrom has talked in the seminar. Different organization has different objectives toward the sustainability aspect.

Groups of organization should agree on the problem the country / global faces like the global climate change and come together with a same objective and comes out with a solution to solve the problem[6].

It is the responsibility of the organization/government to acknowledge the global environmental problem and convey the information of the global environment problem and solution / policy they would like to implement to the public.

Political Sustainability to me is when the certain organizations come together with a policy that can help to heal the sick earth for the better for future generation. They would put across the information of the sick earth and the policy which is like a solution/ ‘medicinie’ to the public & encourage them to respond accordingly. Another example is in Singapore, as Singapore is a small city, it would be highly polluted if everyone owns a car, the government comes out with a system called the COE which is the registration of vehicle.

It is different every year and people who is interested in buying a car or etc has to bid for it and the highest bidder would get the vehicle license at the successful bidding price. He / she would then be ready to get the car. The price of the car would seem to be at a very high price which is almost unaffordable. They also implemented a policy that increases the ERP fees on the road which is like the city link toll in Melbourne.

The government put in a lot of money to upgrade the public transport by bus

and train which is so accessible & easy to navigate around and both transports comes with a mobile TV for one to sit and enjoy the journey 7].

It does make a difference when organization like the government plays a part as they are the leaders we looked upon to. Government and organizations are the only one with the power to encourage the public. One can argue about one person who stand and speak up to the rest to ask them to respond to sustainability but it is not going to be as effective as the government when they come out with incentives as part of encouragement. Social issue relates instantly to political issue directly when the public react to the information of the sick earth told by the organization / government and the policy implemented by them.

Charles Jencks relates social events with the global warming, population growth, rising sea levels which lead to rising refugees and ecological & medical problem which would contribute to world change.

4 The physical world / earth provide and meet our daily human needs. [8]

The relationship between us and the physical environment is so close from this statement which I totally agree instantly now at this moment; “The air which we are breathing now belongs to environment”. Social Sustainability to me is to meet everyone’s need and making everyone happy in an everlasting cycle without destroying our dear earth.

If each of us plays a part to help to save the earth, it would make a difference and our earth would be heal. There is this lecture by David Lisstrom on if people would consume less and just get the basic necessity

we would produce less waste which helps to reduce pollution. I do agree on the consuming less and producing less waste theory but it is so hard just to get the basic necessity and just be satisfied with it as some stuff like a thumbdrive would get out of the technology trend, the improved technology improved on functions to store our stuff in it from the computer.

Ethical issue and Cultural issue relates closely to social issue directly as both of them relate to the human behaviour. Everyone knows the earth is under a lot of pressure in term of environmental problems and they are also aware of the goals to save the world and they must make the right decision and do the right thing which is saving the earth and this is the Ethical Sustainability6.

I agree upon this, this reflects to me about the Earth Hour campaign on 28 March 2009, all of us know about this campaign which we have to switch off our electricity for one hour on that day between 8. 0pm to 9. 30pm[9], there were some people who choose to do the campaign and some who simply ignore it.

I went up to the Shrine to overlook the city and I was disappointed with the result. There is a lot of definition in Culture and there is this definition of how culture relates to our emotions, memory, traditions and belief of certain group of people. Reading from the “ Resetting the compass” believe that our environment influence the culture in different ways. The cultural responses vary in different setting of an environment.

Different people have different perspective and ways to define

environmental problems and interpretation of the land which is the environment to them. This is clearly shown in the example on how Aboriginal relates land itself is a culture and the whole society is connected to the land. There are two groups of people, one group has clear knowledge of the environmental impact of the land and they know how to make full use of the land.

The other group knows the culture of the Aboriginal People in the past and introduced animals which lead to ecological problems which cause the degrading of the pasture[10].

This is a very tough issue to resolve yet critical. In my point of view after reading this chapter, Cultural Sustainability is the understanding of the history tradition nature of a place before introducing the new “medicine” solution to save the earth to me. I relate culture to history and memory of a space. Culture is like a childhood memory images in our mind to me or it can even be a photograph. There are so many changes happening in the world with population growth, the demand to meet the need for this population growth are increasing too which lead to the economic growth which affect our environment.

The impact resulted in global climate changed which is caused by the people. These are the environmental problems. This is vital for us to know the environmental problems our dear earth is facing as we stay on this earth. The environment relates to the food & water to meet the increasing population growth, mineral resources for people who need it to produce electricity and energy in term of the fossil fuels which some use for

driving people in term of electricity, and waste produce by people which turns to a pollution to the environment.

Our climate changed is caused by human activities which cause the natural disaster[11].

Environmental Sustainability to me is to create a healthy environment for the people now which are renewable in cycle similar to food chain where the future generation would able to share and live in the same or better environment we are living in. I have placed the economic issue as my last part of abstraction as I feel that the Economic plays the great part to interrelate to the rest. Studies and prediction from books by scientists, theorist and professor of university have all agreed upon that the rising economic human activities are the cause to the environmental problem.

The books are Creating Sustainable Cities by Herbert Girardet, Resetting the Compass by David Yencken, The nature of sustainable development By Sharon Beder and Architecture 2000 and Beyond By Charles Jencks have shared the same view that Economic would affect the world most. Charles relates the economic issue as Global warming would increase storm damage which mean rebuilding money spent for repairing the damage and medicine & positive health becoming the drive to economic growth.

The economic system affect the natural environment as shown in the diagram, by Thampapillai 1991. [12]

The relationship between the economy and the environment is closely related as shown in the diagram below. Sharon Beder definition of Economic growth is the increasing standard of living, increase in amount of money per person after inflation and increasing capacity for the economy to provide goods and services for final use.

Economic growth affects our environment as shown

in the diagram above[13].

Economic sustainability to me is the ability to increase on the economic growth without affecting our environment and compromising our natural resources which is the message I get across from the reading. Economic growth relates to the production which is to meet the consumption need of people. This is the second interpretation from my understanding of the reading. [pic] Content - Article Research Article: Financial Crisis 2008 There is this short question and answer section with David Lisstrom on the economic crisis now. Does the economic crisis help in saving the earth and reducing the impact caused by us?

David is relating the economic crisis which is the downfall in GNP (Gross National Product) which is the measurement of the a nation standard of living[14] which shows the consumption level of people decreasing gradually which relate to less waste being produced and less pollution being done to the earth.

[15] This clearly shows that how economic is so vital in the Q&A session. I have listened to the BBC forum on how s girl is trying to save up on her money by having $2 budget meal for the better for the future.

The girl also claimed that this is good as everyone would try to cut down on the consumption rate.

This economic crisis is a global wide incident which affects the global people and nation wealth. Wealth of the nation and people are critical in logical sense as the wealth provides one with the necessary need or increase one’s lifestyle. The political organization would have to look into the current situation and adjust their planning to make sure the wealth of nation would not

go down further. One would realize ethically that one does not really need to have everything to the latest trend and be wise to get the necessary need.

This when ethical and culture of the people come in as one already has the knowledge of the problem and it is up to one to make the decision to respond to the problem and address it with either one or suggested solution. When everyone is involve, it become a social aspect. The environment might improve from the degrading state. While most governments' eyes are on the banking crisis, a much bigger issue - the environmental crisis - is passing them by, says Andrew Simms. In the Green Room this week, he argues that failure to organise a bailout for ecological debt will have dire consequences for humanity.

Nature Doesn't Do Bailouts! " said the banner strung across Bishopsgate in the City of London. -G20 submit[16] I read this article this morning.

This is when I interpret that everyone is just concern about the immediate short term crisis which is visible to them than responding the long term crisis like the environmental problems. In conclusion, I feel Eco-Philosophy is about looking at the overall picture and doing a study of the problems and coming out with our own eco-philosophy in term of how we input the concept of sustainability into 6 categories, Social, Political, Economic, Environmental, Ethical and Cultural.

This is very similar if you have a camera with you, you can only take to the a certain width unless you change the lens to be able to capture the whole length of the area which you want to take. If

you do not have the lens, one might choose other alternative like taking paranormic views of different shots to capture the view. In another words, one must see the overall picture to analyse the whole situation in order to come out with a solution. 1. Sharon Beder, The Nature of Sustainable Development, 1996, Scribe Publication Newham, Australia, pp. xi-xiv, Introduction 2.

Charles J Kibert, Reshaping the Built Environemnt, 1999, Island Press, Washington D. C California, pp. 9-11, Chapter 2 : The Promise and Limits of Sustainability 3. Godfrey Reggio, Koyanniquatsi, between 1975 & 1982, An Ire Production 4. Charles Jencks, Architecture 2000 and Beyond- Success in the Art of Prediction, 2000, Wiley Academy, Front Page 5. Sharon Beder, The Nature of Sustainable Development, 1996, Scribe Publication Newham, Australia, pp. 117-121, Problems for Policy Makers 6. J Kibert, Reshaping the Built Environment, 1999, Island Press, Washington D. C California, pp. 4-58, Chapter 4 : Environmental Ethics 7. Speech by Raymond Lim , Sep 2004, Ensure smooth flow of road, Straits time, Singapore, viewed 7 Apr 2009 http://app. mot. gov. sg/data/s_08_01_30. htm 8. David Yencken and Debra Wilkinson, Resetting the Compass, 2001, CSIRO publishing, Australia, pp326-330, Chapter 12, Political and Environmental Change 9. 9 Earth hour , 2009, WWF, viewed 7 Apr 2009, http://www. earthhour. org/home/ 10. David Yencken and Debra Wilkinson, Resetting the Compass, 2001, CSIRO publishing, Australia, pp343-364, Chapter 13, The Four Pillars of Wisdom 1. John J. W Rogers, People and the Earth, 1998,Roger 7 Feiss, Australia, overall, 12. Sharon Beder, The Nature of Sustainable Development, 1996, Scribe Publication Newham, Australia, pp. 9-22, The Environment and the economic system 13. Sharon Beder, The Nature of

Sustainable Development, 1996, Scribe Publication Newham, Australia, pp. 10 & 13, The Environment and the economic system 14. J Kibert, Reshaping the Built Environment, 1999, Island Press, Washington D. C California, pp. 73-74, Chapter 5 : Uneconomic Growth and the built environment 15.

David Listtrom, Green Policy, 1999, Island Press, Washington D. C California, pp. 73-74, Chapter 5 : Uneconomic Growth and the built environment 16. Andrew Simms, Ecological Debts, BBC, 7apr 2009, view 9 April 2009 http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/science/nature/7988648. stm ----------------------- [1] Sharon Beder, The Nature of Sustainable Development, 1996, Scribe Publication Newham, Australia, pp. xi-xiv, Introduction [2] Charles J Kibert, Reshaping the Built Environemnt, 1999, Island Press, Washington D. C California, pp. 9-11, Chapter 2 : The Promise and Limits of Sustainability 3] Godfrey Reggio, Koyanniquatsi, between 1975 & 1982, An Ire Production [4] Charles Jencks, Architecture 2000 and Beyond- Success in the Art of Prediction, 2000, Wiley Academy, Front Page [5] Sharon Beder, The Nature of Sustainable Development, 1996, Scribe Publication Newham, Australia, pp. 117-121, Problems for Policy Makers [6]J Kibert, Reshaping the Built Environment, 1999, Island Press, Washington D. C California, pp. 54-58, Chapter 4 : Environmental Ethics [7] Speech by Raymond Lim , Sep 2004, Ensure smooth flow of road, Straits time, Singapore, viewed 7 Apr 2009 http://app. mot. gov. sg/data/s_08_01_30. tm [8] David Yencken and Debra Wilkinson, Resetting the Compass, 2001, CSIRO publishing, Australia, pp326-330, Chapter 12, Political and Environmental Change [9] Earth hour , 2009, WWF, viewed 7 Apr 2009, http://www. earthhour. org/home/ [10]David Yencken and Debra Wilkinson, Resetting the Compass, 2001, CSIRO publishing, Australia, pp343-364, Chapter 13, The Four Pillars of Wisdom [11] John J. W Rogers,

People and the Earth, 1998,Roger 7 Feiss, Australia, overall, [12] Sharon Beder, The Nature of Sustainable Development, 1996, Scribe Publication Newham, Australia, pp. 9-22, The Environment and the economic system 13] Sharon Beder, The Nature of Sustainable Development, 1996, Scribe Publication Newham, Australia, pp. 10 & 13, The Environment and the economic system [14] J Kibert, Reshaping the Built Environment, 1999, Island Press, Washington D. C California, pp. 73-74, Chapter 5 : Uneconomic Growth and the built environment [15] David Listtrom, Green Policy, 1999, Island Press, Washington D. C California, pp. 73-74, Chapter 5 : Uneconomic Growth and the built environment [16] Andrew Simms, Ecological Debts, BBC, 7apr 2009, view 9 April 2009 http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/science/nature/7988648. stm

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