The Governance of Sustainable
Development
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
Aristotelian social philosophy and
sustainable development
Environmental law is about the conflict
between humans over the use of nature
(natural resources)

Law is a means to mitigate social conflict

Quest for a social order
Ethics of sustainable development

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Basic goods of human life that are found in
nature

Life (food and shelter, pollution)

Play (fishing, hiking)
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Aesthetic experience

Religion (biodiversity)
Conflicts over what of these should be
preferred
Ethics of sustainable development
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Sustainable development as a coherent plan
of life
–

Hopes and plans correspond to present
action
A question of social philosophy how to order
a coherent plan of life for the society

Facts of natural science (e.g. peak oil) are
only secondarily relevant to sustainable
development
Time preference

The role of time preference in sustainable
development

Something is of use to us now, but maybe not
tomorrow (e.g. food that spoils)

Oil is useful as a source of energy only as long
as better sources have not been developed

Investments to solar power increase the supply of oil
today, as owners of oil below ground want to sell it
before solar power is too advanced
A social order for sustainable
development
•
Recognizing multiple actors
•
Three approaches:
–
Rights
–
Utilitarianism
–
the common good
Rights

A social order based on rights not very good
in avoiding social conflicts

Every right is someone's obligation

Merely stating that rights exist leaves the content
open and disputable
Rights
• ”Rights of future generations”
–
–
Value in achieving sustainable development
questionable
• Not helpful in a coherent plan of life
Bring another dimension to the rights
debate, perhaps unnecessarily
Utilitarianism

Problems of utilitarian philosophy

“The greatest good for the greatest number” is
not self-evident, the good and the number
disputed

Difficulties in valuating different goods
Utilitarianism

Utilitarian calculation

Calculations can be based only on current
market prices

Coasean calculation doesn't account for
changes in prices
Aristotelian calculation
•
A. held that values agreed upon in free
exchange are social values:
–
They are comparable
–
They reflect the social opinion of the
importance of different goods
Economics

Aristotelian economics
– The causal-realist approach
•
Not empirical
– Concentrates on causes and effects, not
effectiveness
» This allows it to be open to different aspects
of the common goods
Autonomy
•
Responsibility of potential polluters is
necessary to achieve sustainable
development
•
Sustainable development also requires a
coherent plan of life, i.e. autonomy
•
Governance should be concerned with the
responsibility and autonomy of actors, and
leave planning to actors
Autonomy
•
Uncertainty for the future the major cause
for high time preference
–
”living like there is no tomorrow”
–
Radical changes cause uncertainty
•
Government interventions can be
counterproductive