ARNE NAESS, VAL PLUMWOOD, AND DEEP ECOLOGICAL SUBJECTIVITYA CONTRIBUTION TO THE ?DEEP ECOLOGY-ECOFEMINISM DEBATE?

Abstract

Karen Warren's recent essay, Ecofeminist Philosophy and Deep Ecology, begins by noting that the philosophical positions found under the heading are anything but monolithic. This point, which has been overlooked by deep ecologists as often as by others, is crucial for those who are interested in the ecology-ecofeminism debate, for just as one must specify which of the ecofeminisms are in question, so too one must be clear about which of the deep ecologies is being debated, if one is to make one's way through the complex relationships between them. In the course of her article, Warren recounts with approval Val Plumwood's Nature, Self and Gender: Feminism, Environmental Philosophy, and the Critique of Rationalism, an essay which locates, discusses, and critiques three versions of the self that various deep ecologists offer. In light of Plumwood's comments, Warren argues that the work of Arne Naess differs significantly from other deep ecologists such that Naess' deep ecology position is or could be compatible with ecofeminism (Warren 1999, 255).