Premium
Changes in Euro‐American Values Needed for Sustainability
Author(s) -
Clark Mary E.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1995.tb01348.x
Subject(s) - subconscious , scarcity , prosocial behavior , sustainability , environmental ethics , adaptive capacity , social psychology , non human , psychology , sociology , economics , political science , positive economics , climate change , ecology , microeconomics , law , medicine , philosophy , alternative medicine , pathology , biology
The worldview that gives rise to contemporary Euro‐American values is examined and found to be no longer adaptive. The problem is traced to some of the subconscious beliefs and assumptions that underlie that worldview. In particular, our beliefs about “human nature,” about the causes of “scarcity,” and about the nature of “progress,” are questioned, and the ways these beliefs have led to socially and environmentally destructive institutions are traced. Sustainability, which requires both ecological awareness and sensitivity to human social needs, will depend on replacing maladaptive assumptions with others: namely, that humans are not naturally selfish, but are prosocial; that scarcity for humans is not primarily a condition of Nature, but is culturally caused; and that progress means not growing bigger or more complex, but adapting to change. These new beliefs will lead to new, more adaptive values and institutions.