A life according to nature: from ancient theoretical ideal to future sustainable practice

Recent developments in environmental education in the United States reveal a noticeable tendency toward the position that every institution of higher education should make the cultivation of ecological intelligence an essential part of every student’s learning experience. But a theoretical study of the history of the idea of sustainability in the Western philosophical tradition shows that this concept has been relatively neglected in favor of the notion of a human subjugation of nature. For the idea of a human life according to nature was cultivated by a few ancient thinkers but subverted by various modern notions of the hegemony of man over nature. In light of the clear fact that sustainability is a concern increasingly shared by industry, government, and academe, there is cogent empirical evidence that a life according to nature is an idea whose time has finally come. This paper seeks to act as a catalyst for environmental education by identifying primary sources, providing theoretical frameworks, and supplying practical counsels for determining viable approaches to sustainability useful to industrial actors, governmental policy-makers, and environmental professionals. Thus the paper aims to start a dialogue between various constituencies, especially industrialists and ecologists, about the theoretical foundations and practical implications of sustainability. In doing so, the paper presents elements applicable to the education and training of interested environmentalists at different levels and in different fields, be it formal or non-formal schooling of academics, specialized training or retraining of decision-makers, or common-ground communication to the general public. Finally, the paper suggests that not only the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the technical studies, but also the humanities disciplines can make indispensable contributions to sustainability studies, and that therefore the best practices in this area will inevitably be interdisciplinary.