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{{Short description|Philosophy of ecological harmony or equilibrium as developed by Arne Næss or Félix Guattari}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2014}}
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'''Ecosophy''' or '''ecophilosophy''' (a portmanteau of '''ecological philosophy''') is a philosophy of ecological harmony or equilibrium. The term was coined by the French [[post-structuralist]] philosopher [[Félix Guattari]] and the Norwegian philosopher [[Arne Næss]], father of [[deep ecology]].

==Félix Guattari==
Ecosophy also refers to a field of practice introduced by [[psychoanalyst]], [[poststructuralist]] philosopher, and political activist [[Félix Guattari]]. In part Guattari's use of the term demarcates a necessity for the proponents of social liberation, whose struggles in the 20th century were dominated by the paradigm of social revolution, to embed their arguments within an ecological framework which understands the interconnections of social and environmental spheres.

Guattari holds that traditional environmentalist perspectives obscure the complexity of the relationship between humans and their natural environment through their maintenance of the dualistic separation of human (cultural) and nonhuman (natural) systems; he envisions ecosophy as a new field with a [[monistic]] and pluralistic approach to such study. Ecology in the Guattarian sense, then, is a study of complex phenomena, including human subjectivity, the environment, and social relations, all of which are intimately interconnected. Despite this emphasis on interconnection, throughout his individual writings and more famous collaborations with [[Gilles Deleuze]], Guattari has resisted calls for holism, preferring to emphasize heterogeneity and difference, synthesizing assemblages and [[multiplicities]] in order to trace [[rhizome (philosophy)|rhizomatic]] structures rather than creating unified and holistic structures.

{{Quote|Without modifications to the social and material environment, there can be no change in mentalities. Here, we are in the presence of a circle that leads me to postulate the necessity of founding an "ecosophy" that would link environmental ecology to social ecology and to mental ecology.|Guattari 1992}}

Guattari's concept of the three interacting and interdependent ecologies of mind, society, and environment stems from the outline of the three ecologies presented in ''[[Steps to an Ecology of Mind]]'', a collection of writings by [[cybernetic]]ist [[Gregory Bateson]].

== Næss's definition ==
Næss defined ecosophy in the following way:

{{Quote|By an ecosophy I mean a philosophy of ecological harmony or equilibrium. A philosophy as a kind of sofia (or) wisdom, is openly normative, it contains both norms, rules, postulates, value priority announcements and hypotheses concerning the state of affairs in our universe. Wisdom is policy wisdom, prescription, not only scientific description and prediction. The details of an ecosophy will show many variations due to significant differences concerning not only the 'facts' of pollution, resources, population, etc. but also value priorities.|A. Drengson and Y. Inoue, 1995, page 8}}

While a professor at the [[University of Oslo]] in 1972, Arne Næss, introduced the terms "[[deep ecology]] movement" and "ecosophy" into environmental literature.  Næss based his article on a talk he gave in [[Bucharest]] in 1972 at the Third World Future Research Conference. As Drengson notes in ''Ecophilosophy, Ecosophy and the Deep Ecology Movement: An Overview'', "In his talk, Næss discussed the longer-range background of the ecology movement and its connection with respect for Nature and the inherent worth of other beings."  Næss's view of humans as an integral part of a "total-field image<ref>Næss, Arne. (1972): Shallow and the Deep. Oslo: Inquiry.</ref>" of Nature contrasts with the alternative construction of ecosophy outlined by Guattari.

The term ecological [[wisdom]], synonymous with ecosophy, was introduced by Næss in 1973.  The concept has become one of the foundations of the [[deep ecology]] movement. All expressions of values by [[Green Parties]] list '''ecological wisdom''' as a key value&mdash;it was one of the original [[Green politics#Core tenets|Four Pillars of the Green Party]] and is often considered the most basic value of these parties. It is also often associated with [[Indigenous peoples|indigenous]] [[religion]] and [[culture|cultural]] practices.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Robert T.F. Downes |date=2024-07-09 |title=Natural Dialectics: Māori & Sioux Ecosophy Encounters the Rule of Law |url=https://scholarworks.arcadia.edu/agsjournal/vol9/iss1/2/ |journal=The Journal of International Relations, Peace Studies, and Development |volume=9 |issue=1 |issn=2429-2133}}</ref> In its political context, it is necessarily not as easily defined as [[ecological health]] or scientific [[ecology]] concepts.

==See also==
{{div col}} <!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order ♦♦♦---> 
* [[Ecology]]
* [[Environmental philosophy]]
* [[Global Greens Charter]]
* [[Green syndicalism]]
* [[Silvilization]]
* [[Simple living]]
* [[Spiritual ecology]]
* [[Sustainable living]]
* [[Yin and yang]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*Drengson, A. and Y. Inoue, eds. (1995) ''The Deep Ecology Movement: An Introductory Anthology''. Berkeley: North Atlantic Publishers.
*Guattari, Félix: »Pour une refondation des pratiques sociales«. In: Le Monde Diplomatique (Oct. 1992): 26-7.
*Guattari, Félix: »Remaking Social Practices«. In: Genosko, Gary (Hg.) (1996): The Guattari Reader. Oxford, Blackwell, S. 262-273.
*Maybury-Lewis, David. (1992) "On the Importance of Being Tribal: Tribal Wisdom." Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World. Binimun Productions Ltd.
*Næss, Arne. (1973) ''The Shallow and the Deep Long-Range Ecology Movement: A Summary". Inquiry, 16:95-100
*Drengson A. & B. Devall (2008) (Eds) ''The Ecology of Wisdom. Writings by Arne Naess''. Berkeley: Counterpoint
*Levesque, Simon (2016) Two versions of ecosophy: Arne Næss, Félix Guattari, and their connection with semiotics. ''Sign Systems Studies'' 44(4): 511-541. http://dx.doi.org/10.12697/SSS.2016.44.4.03

==External links==
*[http://www.ecospherics.net/pages/DrengEcophil.html Ecophilosophy, Ecosophy and the Deep Ecology Movement: An Overview by Alan Drengson] Ecospherics.net. Accessed 2005-08-14.
*[http://trumpeter.athabascau.ca/index.php/trumpet The Trumpeter], A Journal of Ecosophy.

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[[Category:Ecology]]
[[Category:Postmodern theory]]
[[Category:Environmental philosophy]]
[[Category:Environmentalism]]
[[Category:Arne Næss]]