What is Ecohumanism?

This article serves as a very brief introduction to ecohumanism. As the founder of this web project, I shall attempt to provide a clear definition and description for the philosophy. Before I do so, I feel it would be appropriate to begin with an acknowledgement of the fact that I could not have developed the vision for this project without any help. As with any initiative, Ecohumanism Research is the culmination of not just my own work, but also that of many others. Similarly, I must acknowledge that I have had the privilege to live in environments that have been conducive to enabling me to be and to become. Of course, such acknowledgement is a part of what it means to embody ecohumanism. Therefore, Ecohumanism Research will only be as successful as people allow it to be. To put it another way if there is sufficient interest in this project then it is possible that it will flourish. Otherwise, it will not. I leave that to the discretion of its followers and contributors.

Defining the Philosophy

Ecohumanism is a holistic philosophy that has developed out of the need to address humanity’s greatest problems, which invariably implicate the environment.¹ We can understand the significance of the word by dissecting it. Hence, we are presented with “eco” and “humanism”. The “eco” segment is derived from the Greek word “οίκος”, which in English would be phonetically pronounced somewhat like “eekos”. The word makes reference to a dwelling, home, or household.² The “humanism” segment relates directly to the Latin “humanus”, which of course translates to “human”.³

Before proceeding to describing what ecohumanism is, it is important to note that the term appears to have formal usage in academia. However, its usage is elusive; there is a book dedicated to the subject, including the Journal of Ecohumanism, which is an academic journal that was founded as recently as 2021.^4-5 Although the word “ecohumanism” has usage within the academic sphere, as of 2022, it does not appear in any English dictionary.⁶ Regardless of whatever conceptions may exist, Ecohumanism Research will serve as an independent initiative for introducing and advancing the philosophy due to the awareness that knowledge acquisition and problem solving must involve collaboration between all people regardless of their background. What do I mean by this? I explain below.

Ecohumanism Research exists for the purpose of advancing ecohumanism. Due to the nature of this endeavor the website may be viewed as a semi-academic project. The purpose of this is to present a philosophy that is uniquely relevant to humanity’s evolutionary state. As suggested in the website’s inaugurating post, I have been working towards the development of this philosophy for at least 6 years. In this regard the website’s Learn page contains a list of books that I consider to be important for understanding the vision behind the philosophy. With that said, I am not dependent upon any previous attempt(s) by any individual or organization to define and describe ecohumanism for reasons already mentioned. However, as Ecohumanism Research is especially concerned with unifying the academic and public spheres an attempt will be made to ensure that the philosophy as advocated by the website becomes congruent with existing conceptions. As such, Ecohumanism Research intends to collaborate with the Journal of Ecohumanism in order to advance the philosophy. However, in the meantime, the website will persist with its own conception of the philosophy in order to avoid technical confusion and to maintain integrity in its aspirations.

With the above-mentioned considered, as featured on the website’s About page, I define ecohumanism as “a holistic philosophy that encourages long-term human survival, happiness, and evolution through the emphasis of the systemic relationship between humans and their respective environment, in accordance to ecological theory”. As already suggested this definition is not final, meaning that it may change in the future so that it becomes more concise and specific. In the following subsection, I briefly describe what ecohumanism is.

Describing the Philosophy

Ecohumanism is a holistic philosophy that encourages long-term human survival, happiness, and evolution. As the philosophy’s name implies, it involves connecting ecology with humanism. With regards to the meaning of the “humanism” segment, which has not yet been clearly defined, I refer to The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Humanism. In a chapter where he describes the meaning of the word and its origins, Andrew Copson, one of the book’s editors states the following:

What we now call a ‘humanist’ attitude has found expression around the world
for at least 2,500 years (which is about as long as we have written records from
many places) and in civilizations from India, to China, to Europe; but the use
of a single English word to unify these instances of a common phenomenon is
comparatively recent.⁷

Apparently the use of “humanism” as an English word to describe what may be viewed as a set of moral principles is as recent as the 19th century. In relation to this Copson states that:

Within academia the use of ‘humanism’ to refer to the Renaissance movement (often: ‘Renaissance humanism’) persisted and still persists;
outside academia, it was the second meaning of ‘humanism’ and ‘humanist’ that prevailed in the twentieth century.⁸

It is important to note that this (non-academic) second meaning of humanism that Copson is alluding to describes an approach to life that is secular, hence, not dogmatic or religious. Thus, in this sense, humanism represents a set of beliefs and values that are intended to encourage social and cultural development. Essentially, humanism may be viewed as extracting the best that the world’s major religions have to offer in terms of morality without the dogma that is prevalent in their scriptures.⁹ One of the best known moral principles, for example, is the Golden Rule, which generally states “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.¹⁰ A central facet of humanism is to emphasize the survival and happiness of humans. Although the description I have provided thus far of humanism barely addresses its significance, I cannot possibly do the subject any justice as this is something that only a book can perform. Nonetheless, at this point, one might appropriately ask something akin to the following “Since humanism appears to encourage human survival and happiness, then what is it that makes ecohumanism any different?”. From hereon, I will provide a response as it is worthwhile for distinguishing ecohumanism from its related counterpart.

If ecohumanism is any different from humanism then this is only in terms of its morality. What do I mean by this? Firstly, ecohumanism is not inherently different from its related counterpart. Therefore, it is incorrect to perceive it as being different. A better word to describe what I am saying is “distinct”. The reason for this is simple. Ecohumanism can and should be understood as an extension of humanism where this extension is the ecological component. Here’s what this means; ecohumanism focuses not only on humans, but also the environment in which they are embedded. Further, it emphasizes the dynamic relationship humans have with their environment. Why? The answer is – context matters. Without context, we might as well be scratching our heads wondering what on earth we’re doing with our lives. Although some proponents of humanism may argue that their philosophy is in a state of progression and that it generally addresses the issue I am describing here, neither their arguments nor their philosophy seem to be indicative that they have a scientific understanding of how dependent humans are on having an environment to sustain their survival. For instance, one of the foremost organizations advocating for humanism is the American Humanist Association. On its website it states that “Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism or other supernatural beliefs, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good.”.¹¹ Now we may ask ourselves whether there is anything wrong with this definition. Except there isn’t. Can anyone think of any reason that it may be morally undesirable to affirm “our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good”? Probably not unless we’re conversing about humans who were not born with or have lost the ability to use a part of their body that is known as the “brain” (of course, I am being facetious). Let’s proceed to the next paragraph.

Let’s return our focus to what I was discussing previously regarding the relation between ecohumanism and humanism. Let’s establish the distinction between the two philosophies. Ecohumanism is an extension of humanism, i.e. although it encourages human survival and happiness, it goes a step further by emphasizing the dynamic relationship between humans and their environment, given that the environment does not necessarily have to be confined to Earth. This environment can be anywhere in space. Hence, because of the emphasis on ecology, it provides a scientific basis that is more appropriate to long-term human survival, happiness, as well as evolution. As a result, it is more sustainable as it offers a vision for the future that is practical through science and its applied relative – engineering. This is exemplified by the logo of Ecohumanism Research; it depicts a series of circles that have a green color, symbolizing the environmental aspect of the philosophy, whereas the circles themselves signify the expansion of human thought and action. The combination of the logo’s color and its design represent the development of human ecosystems. This stands in near contrast to the symbol of humanism that depicts a human being seemingly existing in a vacuum.¹² Figure 1 illustrates this.

As we can observe, the difference between these symbols is noticeable, to say the least. Though this difference may initially seem insignificant, we must consider that it translates into a shift in our way of thinking, which is necessary if we are to help ourselves develop human ecosystems that function more harmoniously with nature. When I say “human ecosystems”, I refer to urban areas that are holistically designed, and that therefore cater to human need and want by using the best that science and technology have to offer. Needless to say, according to this description there is no such thing in our world. Possibly the closest thing that matches this description is Masdar City, which is located in the United Arab Emirates. Masdar City is one of the world’s only planned city projects that has been designed by incorporating the ecological component.¹³ However, some have criticized the project because it caters primarily to the affluent, which is evidenced by its ties to the private-sector of industry, including the state’s elite who have a vested economic and political interest in maintaining their social status.^14-15 Thus, even though the city may be one of the world’s most sustainable, at least from the perspective of ecology, it fails to balance the social with the economic and ecological components. Needless to say, although Masdar City represents a step in the direction toward embracing a more ecological way of life, it suffers due to profits being the top priority, which is also known as the “business as usual” approach. I shall not go into any further detail regarding this as it is not the focus of this article. Discussion of this topic will be reserved for a future article.

To conclude, ecohumanism is a holistic philosophy that can, and should be viewed as an extension to humanism. It represents humanity’s natural progression away from its anthropocentric tendencies, and hence, it may be viewed as its entrance into the biological stage of adolescence. I believe that the philosophy as advocated by Ecohumanism Research has the potential to help humans thrive, while preparing them for the scientific and technological challenges of the 21st century and beyond.

References

¹ Here, I am referring to how social problems such as poverty and war, including ecological problems such as biodiversity decline are byproducts of a combination of the economic growth from capitalism, as well as human ignorance and negligence.

² As a fluent speaker of the Greek language, I do not need a source to justify this translation. However, as this article is for educational purposes, I recommend the following link for further reading: https://lsj.gr/wiki/%CE%BF%E1%BC%B6%CE%BA%CE%BF%CF%82.

³ In: Etymonline. 2022. Humanism. Available at: https://www.etymonline.com/word/humanism.

⁴ Tapp, R., 2002. Ecohumanism. New York: Prometheus Books.

⁵ Journal of Ecohumanism. 2022. Available at: https://journals.tplondon.com/ecohumanism/index.

⁶ As of 2022, ecohumanism does not exist as a word in the established dictionaries of Cambridge, Collins, Oxford, and Merriam-Webster.

⁷ Copson, A. and Grayling, A., 2015. The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Humanism. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, p.1.

⁸ This quotation is found on page 2 from reference 7.

⁹ In discussing the world’s major religions I am referring to examples including but not limited to: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.

¹⁰ Weiss, P., 1941. The Golden Rule. The Journal of Philosophy, 38(16), pp.421-430.

¹¹ American Humanist Association. 2022. Definition of Humanism. Available at: https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/definition-of-humanism/.

¹² The symbol for humanism forms a part of the logo representing the American Humanist Association.

¹³ For more information, please consult the following link: https://masdarcity.ae/en/discover/about-us.

¹⁴ Crot, L., 2013. Planning for Sustainability in Non-democratic Polities: The Case of Masdar City. Urban Studies, 50(13), pp.2809-2825.

¹⁵ Cugurullo, F., 2015. Urban eco-modernisation and the policy context of new eco-city projects: Where Masdar City fails and why. Urban Studies, 53(11), pp.2417-2433.