On the conceptual foundations of ecological economics: A teleological approach

doi:10.1016/0921-8009(94)00022-N

Ecological Economics

Volume 12, Issue 1, January 1995, Pages 41-54

https://doi.org/10.1016/0921-8009(94)00022-N Get rights and content

Abstract

Nature is characterised by the emergence and continued existence of Far From Equilibrium Self-Organizing Dissipative Structures (FFESODS), which can be described in terms of their genotypes (potentialities) and phenotypes (realizations). If a FFESODS' genotype is contained within its phenotype, we call it an organism. We can describe the behaviour of organisms as being teleological. We offer three tele for organisms: first telos - self-maintenance, development and self-realization; second telos - replication and renewal; third telos - service to other organisms, to other species or to the whole of nature. Sustainability of an ecosystem requires a balance and harmony between these mutually supporting tele. We define the related concepts of stock, store and fund. We can interpret all living activity, be it natural or economic, in terms of relationships between funds, through the three tele. We can characterise the environmental problems in the First World as stemming from too great an emphasis by humans on the first telos (through consumerism) and too little emphasis on the third telos. In the Third World we can identify environmental problems with an imbalance towards the second telos (reproduction), leading to a de-emphasis of the third telos. The long-run solution to global environmental problems must lie in the re-establishment of global harmony between the three tele of both humans and non-humans.

References (29)

H.C. Binswanger et al.
The dilemma of modern man and nature: an exploration of the Faustian imperative
Ecol. Econ.
(1990)
J.L.R. Proops
Ecological economics: rationale and problem areas
Ecol. Econ.
(1989)
T.F.H. Allen et al.
Hierarchy: Perspectives for Ecological Complexity
(1982)
Aristotle
De Anima
Aristotle
Physics, Books I and II. Translation W. Charlton
(1970)
C. Biancardi et al.
On the relationship between the economic process, the Carnot cycle and the Entropy Law
Ecol. Econ.
(1993)
C.W. Clark
Mathematical Bioeconomics
(1976)
M. Faber et al.
M. Faber et al.
Entropy, Environment and Resources. An Essay in Physico-Economics
(1987)

M. Faber et al.

Towards an open future: ignorance, novelty and evolution

M. Faber et al.

Limits and perspective of the concept of a sustainable development

N. Georgescu-Roegen

The Entropy Law and the Economic Process

(1971)

S.J. Gould

Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History

(1989)

Cited by (32)

Environmental sustainability as the first principle of distributive justice: Towards an ecological communitarian normative foundation for ecological economics
2010, Ecological Economics
The ecological economic concern with environmental sustainability embodies the normative orientations of the field. This concern is foremost a matter of distributive justice, the definition of which determines the relevance of the appropriate scale and efficient allocation criteria. Yet it would appear that the discipline lacks a shared, internally consistent set of ethical premises by which this concern might be legitimized. Various authors have embraced a Rawlsian conception of liberal justice as the appropriate banner for ecological economics in place of the consequentialist–libertarian foundations of neoclassical economics (including environmental economics). It is argued here that this is insufficient in so far as it is premised on a vision of a discrete, self-sufficient economic actor. Instead, it is posited that an ecological economic ethic must proceed from an understanding of the economic actor as community member — a recognition implicit in recent ecological economic contributions focused on discourse ethics and deliberative democracy. An ecological communitarian conception of distributive justice, which views the well-being of the individual as inseparable from the integrity of its implicate, mutually constituting human and non-human natural communities, is advanced as the appropriate basis for the ecological economic world-view. In this light, the thermodynamic foundations of ecological economics are seen to provide the necessary departure point for normative decision-making oriented towards ensuring sustainability in economic organization.
Ecological-economic viability as a criterion of strong sustainability under uncertainty
2009, Ecological Economics
Strong sustainability, according to the common definition, requires that different natural and economic capital stocks be maintained as physical quantities separately. Yet, in a world of uncertainty this cannot be guaranteed. To therefore define strong sustainability under uncertainty in an operational manner we propose to use the concept of viability. Viability means that the different components and functions of a dynamic, stochastic system at any time remain in a domain where the future existence of these components and functions is guaranteed with sufficiently high probability. We develop a unifying and general ecological-economic concept of viability that encompasses the traditional ecological and economic notions of viability as special cases. It provides an operational criterion of strong sustainability under a mild form of uncertainty and for medium spatial and temporal scales. We illustrate this concept and demonstrate its usefulness by applying it to livestock grazing management in semi-arid rangelands.
A framework for the practical application of the concepts of critical natural capital and strong sustainability
2003, Ecological Economics
Citation Excerpt :
Capital is one of the core concepts of economics and there is no space in this paper to go into either the use of the concept itself in economic theory, or the genesis and evolution of the term ‘natural capital’. Some illustrative references to the latter subject may be found in Jansson et al. (1994) and Faber et al. (1995) and to the accounting and valuation of natural capital in Lutz (1993) and Faucheux and O'Connor (1998). The essence of the concept of capital is that it is a stock that possesses the capacity of giving rise to flows of goods and/or services.
This paper develops a methodology for identifying that natural capital—called critical natural capital (CNC)—the maintenance of which is essential for environmental sustainability. By consideration of the characteristics of natural capital, of the environmental functions that these characteristics enable natural capital to perform and of the importance of these functions to humans and the biosphere, it shows how sustainability standards in respect of these environmental functions may be derived. The difference between the current situation and these standards is termed the sustainability gap. The methodology that emerges from bringing these ideas together into a single analytical framework enables policy makers to identify the extent of current unsustainability, the principal causes of it, the elements and processes of natural capital (the CNC) which need to be maintained or restored to close the sustainability gap and the costs of so doing. The framework should therefore be of use in identifying priorities and policies for moving towards environmental sustainability.
Should we pursue measurement of the natural capital stock?
1998, Ecological Economics
Dynamics of time and information in dynamic time
1998, BioSystems
Time is intrinsically locally asynchronous, dynamic in itself, and self-organizing in having locally asynchronous time precipitate further asynchronous time while leaving behind globally synchronous time. The resulting global synchronism is skewed in locally asynchronous time, while being vertical to the effected globally synchronous time. Information is a dynamic attribute of time and can be represented as a skewed synchronism in locally asynchronous time. Information originates in the communication among asynchronous times of a local character.
An Emergent Transdisciplinary Methodology for Effective Collaboration in Ecological Economics
2023, Sustainability (Switzerland)

View all citing articles on Scopus

View full text

Methodological and ideological optionsOn the conceptual foundations of ecological economics: A teleological approach

Abstract

Ecol. Econ.

Ecol. Econ.

Hierarchy: Perspectives for Ecological Complexity

De Anima

Physics, Books I and II. Translation W. Charlton

On the relationship between the economic process, the Carnot cycle and the Entropy Law

Ecol. Econ.

Mathematical Bioeconomics

Entropy, Environment and Resources. An Essay in Physico-Economics

Towards an open future: ignorance, novelty and evolution

Limits and perspective of the concept of a sustainable development

The Entropy Law and the Economic Process

Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History

Methodological and ideological options
On the conceptual foundations of ecological economics: A teleological approach