I did a quick look at the topic of sustainable development
and found it dominated by the philosohy called "Natural
Step". Hundreds of people want to give seminars to
business's on this topic. After sifting through a few
hundred web pages i felt uncomfortable for some reason.
Maybe it was that Schumacher quote Eric posted a
few days ago. Here is some more about Schumacher:
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Tim Healy, Santa Clara University
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In 1977 E.E. Schumacher, who is perhaps best known for his
book "Small is Beautiful", wrote an article for Quest
magazine which I believe should be a necessary element of
every person's education. The article is titled: "The Nature
of Problems: An Argument Against Final Solutions". All of us
can relate to the opening line of the paper, "Life is a
series of problems.' We confront problems every day. Some
problems are ethical, some involve personal conflict, some
are societal disagreements. We need to know something about
the anatomy of problems if we are to face them effectively.
Schumacher believes that there are two kinds of problems,
convergent and divergent. Convergent problems are those with
solutions which can be accepted by most reasonable people
after an appropriate period of study. Divergent problems are
those with no obvious acceptable solution. Some examples of
divergent problems are:
Should abortion be allowed?
Should the United States send troups to regions in the world
where problems exists?
How can we have liberty and equality at the same time?
Is it better to be liberal or conservative?
Is affirmative action a good national policy?
Is welfare good for people?
I am not saying that individuals, perhaps yourself, may not
have strongly held positions on any or all of these
questions. I am only saying that society as a whole does not
have final answers for any of them. They are simply too
complex. One of the reasons that these problems are
divergent is that they do not lend themselves to neat logical
approaches that we like to bring to our analyses.
And yet even so, people like to see complex problems as
simple. How often have you heard someone in the midst of a
really complex and difficult argument say something like,'The
solution is obvious if you would just open your eyes', or
'The only rational answer is...'? Why do we like to think
that we can see the answer to highly complex and difficult
problems with far more variables than anyone could ever hope
to follow. Schumacher offers an answer.
"Divergent problems offend the logical mind, which wishes to
remove tension by coming down on one side or the other, but
they provoke, stimulate, and sharpen the higher human
faculties, without which man is nothing by a clever animal."
The logical mind says that it is all well and good that
divergent problems provoke, stimulate and sharpen the higher
human faculties - but, how do we solve divergent problems.
The answer is that we DON'T solve such problems. We work
with them, around them, over them, until we better understand
the situation, and are better able to cope with the dilemma
with which we are left. Look again at the six example
problems which I have listed above. Every one of them
deserves more study, more open and honest inquiry, on both
sides of the question.
Consider the third example above. How can we have liberty
and equality at the same time? If all of us are to be equal,
some of us are going to have to give up our freedom, because
our natural urgings are to excel personally. If all of us
are to be free to do what we wish, we are not going to be
equal. In response to this dilemma Schumacher observes that
the framers of the French revolution added a third dimension
to the duality. Their slogan was of course 'liberty,
equality and fraternity'. If we have a sincere brotherly and
sisterly concern for each other, the conflict between liberty
and equality changes its character. That conflict may not go
away but it can be lessened and enlightened by our mutual
regard for each other's position, and by our mutual desire to
understand and respect that position.
Schumacher has much more to say in this fine essay, but let
us just close with his definition of what constitutes the
true progress of a human being.
"One's first task is to learn from society and "tradition"
and to find one's temporary happiness in receiving directions
from outside.
"One's second task is to interiorize the knowledge one has
gained, to sort it out, keeping the good and jettisoning the
bad; this is the process of becoming self-directed.
"One's third task (for which the first two are prerequisite)
is to abandon one's likes and dislikes, all of one's
egocentric preoccupations. To the extent that one succeeds
in this, one ceases to be directed from outside, and also
ceases to be self-directed. One has gained freedom or, one
might say, one is then God-directed."
It is fascinating to compare this image of our evolution with
that of <3>Kohlberg's theory of ethical growth.
E.F.Schumacher, "The Nature of Problems: An Argument Against
Final Solutions", Quest, September/October, 1977, pp.77-84
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Some links for E. F. Schumacher:
http://www.schumachersociety.org
http://www.preservenet.com/theory/schumacher.html
http://www.oneworld.org/schumachersoc/index.html
http://www.gn.apc.org/resurgence/ADMIN/schusoc.htm
http://www.gn.apc.org/schumachercollege/links.htm
