Of course, the problem is not that sustainability "cannot" be defined, it's that there are too many definitions and no one agreed-upon one. Among the other terms that fit in this category (and have for many more years than sustainability): freedom, justice, democracy.
Despite the lack of agreement, I wouldn't want to "retire" any of these. Perhaps more to the point, their conceptual power would make it impossible. John Meyer On Tue, Aug 30, 2011 at 6:15 PM, Hirsch, Leonard <[email protected]> wrote: > ** ** > > From an instrumental position, it is the different meanings that make it > meaningless. Might as well talk about what you want for gefliffle.* Once > you start making policy requests based on a concept, you have to have more > consistency. So we now have sustainable growth, sustainable coal, > sustainable nuclear. **** > > A concept that cannot be defined in 27 years needs to be retired.**** > > Len **** > > PS: I am the sustainability officer in my agency.**** > > *A made up word some used in some philosophy of science discussion in the > 1970s meaning endless conceptual debates. Don’t believe it ever got > published.**** > > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > **** > > “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can > change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has” Margaret Mead > **** > > > Leonard P. Hirsch, Senior Policy Advisor > Smithsonian Institution > 1100 Jefferson Drive SW #3123 > PO Box 37012, Q-3123 MRC 705 > Washington, DC 20013-7012**** > > **** > > 1.202.633.4788 > 1.202.312.2888 fax > [email protected]**** > > ** ** > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On > Behalf Of *Beth DeSombre > *Sent:* Tuesday, August 30, 2011 12:35 PM > *To:* Ronnie D Lipschutz > *Cc:* [email protected]; GEP-Ed List > > *Subject:* Re: [gep-ed] seeking definitions of sustainability**** > > ** ** > > *"Ronnie D Lipschutz" <[email protected]> writes:***** > > If you look over the courses linked to our Sustainability **** > > Engineering and Ecological Design curriculum **** > > (http://seed.soe.ucsc.edu/), you may find some useful **** > > material. I try not to get too bogged down in **** > > definitionalism, since that can go on forever...**** > > ** ** > > Our whole point in starting with definitions is to point out that a) there > are many different ways to define this concept; b) any definition by > necessity prioritizes some things and excludes others, and so c) we're not > going to use a definition for our course, but instead talk about the kinds > of things we want to mean when we're collectively talking about > sustainability,**** > > ** ** > > Beth**** > -- John M. Meyer, Professor Department of Politics Humboldt State University Arcata, CA 95521 USA (ph): 707.826.4497 (fax): 707.826.4496 [email protected] users.humboldt.edu/john.m.meyer
