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FREEDOM AND DEPENDENCY IN AN ENVIRONMENTAL AGE
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 June 2009
Abstract
In this article the implications of our nature as both autonomous and heteronomous beings is discussed. It is suggested that our condition as part-dependent creatures calls for a reconsideration of the nature of both freedom and liberalism, and the work of Alasdair MacIntyre and Jean-Paul Sartre is used to illustrate the natural and historical dimensions of our dependency. The conclusion reached is that neither deep ecological re-enchantment nor full-blooded cornucopianism are possible, and that we need to take our nature as semi-dependent creatures seriously as we seek ways of negotiating our way through our environmental problems.
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- Copyright © Social Philosophy and Policy Foundation 2009
References
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72 Ibid., 162.
73 Ibid., 223.
74 Ibid., 226–27.
75 Ibid., 222.
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