no-one-cares-about-sustainability-only-us

No one cares about sustainability - only us!

Perhaps no term has been used more frequently in the more or less interested public in recent decades than that of sustainability. Since it was first mentioned in a UN report in 1987, it appears - not unlike a musical refrain - whenever one wants to make statements about responsibility and ethics. However, that doesn't mean that people know what it means and what sustainability is all about - and what it's not about! What sustainability is not about! First of all, what it's not about: The concept of sustainability is not about focusing on the environment, it's not about the beauty of creation. It's not about the trans-Caucasian wide-mouthed frog, nor about the South Pacific rainbow dragonfly! It's also not about turning away from modern technology, and it certainly is not about abandoning the pursuit of prosperity in a thriving market economy! Sustainability is not about any of that! ... and what it's really about So, what is it about then? The answer is as simple as it is clear: It's about us humans! From its original idea, sustainability represents a concept of nature utilization. Yes, nature is meant to be used! By whom? By us humans. The human being, as the only living being on this planet that can become a question, indeed a problem, in its existence and actions, considers how to derive the greatest and longest-lasting benefit from the surrounding nature. This consideration is also known as economic rationality. Efficiency and effectiveness are pursued - in the service of human survival. Because the goods of creation - all goods are scarce, not infinitely available. Some are so scarce that there is a risk of consuming them within a generation. Then, however, their usefulness is lost, and economic rationality comes to an end. However, since humans have other ways to use their reason, for example, by being able to form chains of causality and thus capable of recognizing the expected consequences of their actions, and because humans are also social beings, i.e., they must necessarily live in relationships with other people, the concept of sustainability assumes that scarce resources must be used in a way that preserves the chance for future human generations to survive and develop. It's about the life possibilities of people. In a way, one could even say that properly understood sustainability describes a completely human-egoistic, or more appropriately expressed, an anthropocentric concept. No nature romanticism but self-interest The human being is at the center of sustainable development. This statement protects us from an almost romantic ecology, in which nature becomes a kind of personality to which humans would have to be accountable. That would be a naturalistic fallacy: Human development, represented from the very beginning by the terms "culture" and "civilization," degenerates in such an eco-ideological perspective into a mere disruptive factor. It would be better for the world if it could do without us. Such ecological equilibrium models have recently made a comeback, but they are philosophically as weakly founded as they are economically - and ultimately ecologically nonsensical. Sustainability needs progress and innovation! The fact that humans must be at the center of every sustainability discussion also makes it clear that sustainability is not about being against progress and rejecting technological innovation. On the contrary! Development opportunities are secured by humans precisely through the use of their creative potentials. Humans are inventive beings who have always sought to extend, simplify, and beautify their lives through technology and innovation. Ethics is the philosophical discipline whose content is human action. This means that ethics concerns the actions that distinguish us humans from other beings on our planet and make us the peculiar subjects that we can experience anew every day when we look in the mirror and exclaim in amazement, "I"?! This genuinely human action is characterized by rationality, intentionality, goal orientation, and more or less great freedom. In a way, it can be considered an ethical task of any sustainability concept to enable human action in the future. We can only achieve this in this small world with finite resources. These resources must be used: effectively, efficiently, creatively, and innovatively. This secures our world, which only exists as shaped and altered by humans. So far, it has been good for us. The trans-Caucasian wide-mouthed frog, on the other hand, couldn't care less.   For more information about our Top100 Speaker Prof. Dr. Thomas Schwartz and the topic of "Sustainability," click HERE: https://www.speakers-excellence.de/redner/prof-dr-thomas-schwartz-ehtik.html