Wilderness Philosophy vs Economics

Below is a wide selection of useful articles, books, and papers discussing the history and current development of the debate around the use of wilderness as a resource. Arguments, schemata, and facts are put forward across these internet resources in a very comprehensive manner. Interesting highlights from the pieces selected are highlighted as well as the link to the complete document. Hopefully this may be useful to start a study in your philosophy or economics class.

A selection of what is available follows. Please feel free to notify Teachers for Forests of any new resource that can contribute to a wider appreciation of the issues and solutions : email; teachers@forests.org.au

Text varies in complexity- something for everyone

Excerpt : "............The following year, the Tasmanian Wilderness Society became The Wilderness Society and went on to campaign to save Kakadu and the Daintree. That year, too, Bob Brown formed the Tasmanian Greens in the Tasmanian Parliament. Bob Hawke said flooding the Franklin would have destroyed Tasmania's "most valuable asset in their most valuable sector of the economy . . . that is, tourism". But the Franklin phenomenon cannot be reduced to economics, although economics played a part in it. The protesters were galvanised by the idea that wilderness has an intrinsic value; that it represents a good that cannot be expressed in economic terms. ........"

Using various other studies it gives a lengthy list of wilderness/forest values for consideration, examines schemata for classifying these and gives some account of financial costs asssociated with these values. It gives interesting conclusions about the historic and current lack of lack of suitable assessments of forest values after drawing on 13 previous reports and a huge bibliography. - The report distinguishes between different the uses of the word "economy" ....."Accurately the economy is the process by which we gain 'welfare', a part of which is the financial gains offered by financial activity."

Indicate the attitude / philosophy - to be discerned from various commentators on the Tasmanian Wilderness -from 1642 -- 1992

Simple language , non-technical and fairly brief, discussing an iconic example of wilderness debate form Victoria.

(From Abstract) - ......."Over the years, environmentalists have expressed considerable hostility towards economics and economists. The view is that economics is part of the problem rather than the solution; economics is seen as the ideology of those who exploit the environment and consistently dismiss environmental concerns as "too expensive". Too often political leaders and others argue that new measures to protect the environment would cost jobs and restrict growth and would therefore diminish community well-being.

For those who have investigated the issues more deeply, the suspicion of economics arises from its apparently inordinate emphasis on the powers of markets to solve problems. Indeed, what is sometimes called the Fundamental Theorem of Economics states that a nation's welfare is maximised when private individuals are left to pursue their own interests through competitive markets. For environmentalists, the selfish acts of corporations and individuals are the principal cause of our environmental problems and it seems perverse to suggest that they can be the solution.

Non -Technical, fairly short article - Extract from the Introduction- ....."The transformation of our economies away from heavy reliance upon extractive natural resource use is well underway and it will continue. The important point from a public policy perspective is not whether this trend will continue or whether it can or should be stopped. It will continue, and it cannot and should not be stopped. The important issue is for public economic policy to recognize where our economies are now, and where they will almost certainly be in the future, and to focus public economic policy upon obtaining the most benefits for all citizens from the new economy that is emerging. To do this, we have to resist the natural tendency to guide public policy by the "view through the rearview mirror." We need to "look through the windshield" and see where we are going.".........

http://www.wilderdom.com/wilderness/WildernessPhilosophy.html 

The site is especially useful to teaching and philosophy of teaching, - in particular outdoor education but encompassing much more than that. The wilderness page has directories to contemporary nature philosophers such as Thoreau and John Muir, ... as well as links to articles on diverse aspects of Wilderness Philosophy.

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