Permaculture in Action

Friday, August 26, 2011

On My Mind - Deep Ecology

Joining in with Rhonda for a weekly sharing of what's on my mind.

We run a " Movies that Matter" film night here at the farm once a month. Last night the movie was Anima Mundi



It is presented from a permaculture and deep ecology perspective. Now permaculture I know something about as we have been practising Permaculturalists for quite some time now. But for those of you, who like me are fairly new to the term Deep Ecology here is a definition from Wikapeadia-

Deep ecology is a contemporary ecological philosophy that recognizes an inherent worth of other beings, aside from their utility. The philosophy emphasizes the interdependence of organisms within ecosystems and that of ecosystems with each other within the biosphere. It provides a foundation for the environmentalecology and green movements and has fostered a new system of environmental ethics.
Deep ecology's core principle is the belief that, like humanity, the living environment as a whole has the same right to live and flourish. Deep ecology describes itself as "deep" because it persists in asking deeper questions concerning "why" and "how" and thus is concerned with the fundamental philosophical questions about the impacts of human life as one part of the ecosphere, rather than with a narrow view of ecology as a branch of biological science, and aims to avoid merely anthropocentric environmentalism, which is concerned with conservation of the environment only for exploitation by and for humans purposes, which excludes the fundamental philosophy of deep ecology. Deep ecology seeks a more holistic view of the world humans live in and seeks to apply to life the understanding that separate parts of the ecosystem (including humans) function as a whole.
The message for me from the movie, was that the earth exists as a being (with a soul) and if this is true or not, treating her as such will bring rewards to the inhabitants. 
"To the extent that people separate themselves from Nature, they spin further and further from the Center." --Masonubu Fukuoka

The movie has moved me deeply and I highly recommend it to you all.

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for the recommendation, Kate. I've never heard of Deep Ecology, nor this movie. I'll look out for it at Maleny. They often have non-mainstream movies like this.

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  2. I like the sound of that. I often think we are part of a much bigger picture than the one we can see.

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  3. Thank so much Kate. I always learn so much when I visit. Hope your weekend it a great one.xx

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  4. I'm doing an ethics course right now for my master in environmental management and I get so frustrated that we haven't thouched this subject at all! Will defenitely give the department some feedback.

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