Epistemic Root of Ecological Crisis: Towards an Ecological Epistemology

Abstract

There has been a surge in global concerns for the ecosystem. The depth of environmental problems and their perilous consequences on the ecosystem today explains concerns. In many environmentalists’ literature, it is common to blame the roots of the crisis on such factors as indiscriminate application of advances in science and technology, and the defective pattern of economic world order. Taking a departure from such commonly identified factors, this paper interrogates the root of problem from an epistemological perspective. This is due to the need to tackle it from the root. It argues that since our conception of reality determines the way we relate with the world, our ecological crisis is basically rooted in the wrong human conception of the world of nature as a ready tool for man’s use and exploitation. Such conception as sponsored by the dualistic epistemic framework in traditional epistemology, focuses on pure mental cognition of the epistemic subject in knowledge production, while undermining the crucial agency of the environment in shaping mental activities. This creates an impression of man’s masterly power over the world on nature. The consequence of such polarizing and exclusivist epistemic orientation is man’s unrestrained domination and ill-exploitation of the environment today, resulting in the ecological crisis. As a way out, the paper proposes an ecological epistemology as a philosophical tool for rethinking the epistemic interconnectedness between man and the environment. It concludes that such ecologically-oriented epistemology offers a reconceptualization of humanity that has the potential to conserve the environment.