Arne Næss in 1973 coined the phrase deep ecology. A Norwegian philosopher, Næss added the idea of deep wisdom to the facts and logic of ecological science. His philosophical work focused on Spinoza, Buddhism and Gandhi.
Born in 1937, he was the youngest person to be appointed full professor at the University of Oslo. Næss, an avid mountaineer, cited Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring as a key influence in his vision of deep ecology. Næss also engaged in direct action. In 1970, he chained himself to rocks in front of Mardalsfossen a waterfall in a Norwegian fjord and refused to descend until plans to build a dam were dropped.
In 1958, Arne Næss founded the interdiciplinary journal of philosophy Inquiry. He also ran for a minor office as a member of the Norwegian Green Party.
Næss is a noted mountaineer, who in 1950 led the expedition that made the first ascent of Tirich Mir (7,708 m). The Tvergastein hut in the Hallingskarvet massif has played in important role in Næss' life. He died in 2004 at the age of 67.
Deep ecology holds that the human species is a part of the Earth and not separate from it.
In a deeply spiritual process of self-realization or "re-earthing," we gain an ecocentric perspective. The notion is based on the idea that the more we expand the self to identify with "others" (people, animals, ecosystems), the more we realize ourselves.
Learn more:
"Truth" as Conceived by Those who are Not Professional Philosophers by Arne Næss (1938).
Communication and Argument: Elements of Applied Semantics by Arne Naess (1966).
Deep Ecology: Living As If Nature Mattered by Bill Devall, George Sessions (1985).
Ecology, Community, and Lifestyle: Outline of an Ecosophy by Arne Næss, Arne Naess, David Rothenberg (1989)
Thinking Like a Mountain: Toward a Council of All Beings by John Seed, Joanna Macy, Pat Fleming, Arne Naess (1992)
Is It Painful to Think?: Conversations with Arne Naess by David Rothenberg (1993)
Life's Philosophy: Reason & Feeling in a Deeper World by Arne Naess, Arne Næss, Per Ingvar Haukeland, Roland Huntford (2002)
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