Izabela Kopaniszyn Jagiellonian University Krakow

Collegium MedicumMedical Faculty

Department of Sociology of Medicine

Michał Siciński

AGH University of Technology and ScienceKrakow Faculty of Applied Social Sciences

Department of Philosophy

Strategic Starting Points of the Sustainable Development: Between

Global Harmony and Local Technologies

1. Concepts of the Universal HarmonyWestArche – the Ionic School

Melody of numbers and figures – the Pythagoreans school

Logos (the Word)– Heraclite, Preface of the John’s Evangelium

East

Tao – the Taoism (China)

Brahman – the Hinduism (India)

2. Concepts of the Human ActivenessWestFill the Earth and subdue it

– the Old Testament (Gen. 1: 28)

The human - a Crown of the Creation

EastAct on the way that you have posessed the Tao

- the Confucian Dialoques

The Human – an Element of the Universum

3. Understanding the Laws of Nature

statical harmonies:

geometry – the Pythagoreans, Euclidmechanical statics – Archimedes

astronomy – Ptolemeo, Copernicus

dynamical processes:

mechanics – Newtonelectrodynamics – Maxwell

chemistry, cosmology, biology, etc.

Dynamical processes and equilibriums replace statical harmonies

4. Understanding the Laws of Society

The Ideal State of Society:

Natural:

the Lost Paradisethe Golden Agethe Savages’ Happiness

Deliberated:

the Plato’s State

The More’s Utopia

The Utopian Socialism

The synthetical aproaches:

Statical – Confucius

Dynamical – Hegel, Marx

So far the nature and the ecology are absent in social thinking

5. Understanding of the Universum: Nature + Society + Human Individuals

In the point 2. a very simple scheme was suggested:

mutual dependency (East)

Nature Individualsharmony

domination (West)

Nature Individualsexploitation

5.1. In the point 4. a slightly more complex scheme was suggested:

acceptance

harmony

Society Individualscontestation

static/dynamic passive/active

repression/contestation

Society Individualsdestructure/ new construction

5.2. And below, we suggest a still more complex scheme:

SocietySocio-economical structures

Nature Technology Individuals

Social consciousness (culture)

Each line indicates relationships between particular spheres regarded as friendly or hostile, dominating or subornatory, static or dynamic, passive or active.

The particular approaches to the environmental and techno-economical problems deal only with some of them, as for example the schemes 5. and 5.1. which are special cases of 5.2. To apply a more general approach, one must consider more of relationships as pointed out above.

The way of understanding what does it mean (friendly/hostile, dominating/ subordinatory

etc.) in particular cases, depends on approaches which vary between: the Eastern

and Western religious, ethical and philosophical traditions, the different types of

society (open/closed, traditional/liberal, authoritarian/democratic) as well as the

different scientific paradigmes and methodologies, and especially the different

technological cultures.

Manifestations of the Universum

statical dynamical

evolutionary revolutionary

Each kind of the manifestation depends on the optimal level of the balance between particular elements, which can be described by a certain

function, continous or discontinous one.

A significant discontinuity can cause a revolutionary change such as: technological revolutions, socio-political revolutions, ecological

disasters, etc.

A system characterised by the continous funcions is evolutionary, and below a certain level of their variableness it can be qualified as static.

Examples:

- the authoritarian macrosocial structures are considered as individual-friendly in the Confucian Asian tradition but as

individual-hostile one in the liberal European tradition

- the lifestyle of an Indian ascete is considered as extremely passive in the European indvidual-expansive tradition but as

highly active one in the Asian contemplative tradition

- the reductionist mechanistical approach was considered as dynamical one in biology of a half of XX’th Century but as

static one in biology of the verge of XXI’st Century

- the nuclear energetic technologies were considered as not nature-hostile in 1950ties but as nature-hostile by the collective

consciousness after 1986

Many faults, theoretical and practical, within ecological researches and environmental movements, origin from a lack of understanding

of their own background: historical, ethnical, philosophical etc.

Limitations of neglecting of this fact are well known and recently disputed in the sphere of international policies, e.g. the war in Iraq.

This is not so obvious, however, in the more general discourse which includes relationships between nature, society and

individuals as it was pointed out at the scheme 5.2.That is why wilder approaches of the integral ecology, although

they apperar, are not commonly considered.

Integral ecology is a contemporary field of ecology that emphasizes the existence of multiple valid perspectives, including both scientific and philosophical perspectives. The most prominent

figure in the area is philosopher Michael Zimmerman.

Four Strategic Starting Points of the Sustainable Development:

1. A sythesis of different approaches (applied in practical legislations and programs).

2. Models including both: nature + society (in different combinations).

3. A clear hierarchy of values (e.g.based on quality or quantity features) .

4. A clear definition (and understanding) of the meaning of „social development”.