Slavoj Zizek in the documentary “Examined Life”, giving his talk on the philosophy of ecology. If one takes the definition of ecology to its literal end, it means the interactions between organisms and their environment. Some philosophical ecologists believe then that any actions or impacts that humans have are natural and aren’t “good” or “bad”.
But if you’re finding it tricky to decipher if Zizek actually likes nature or not, check out this article.
Zizek: “Either we take the threat of ecological catastrophe seriously and decide today to do things that, if the catastrophe does not occur, will appear ridiculous, or we do nothing and risk losing everything if the catastrophe does take place.”
Then there’s the more strict philosophy of ecology figure Timothy Morton, whose ideas lead him to propose doing away with the idea of “nature”, arguing that the idea of “nature” is really a fetish concept created by the romantics. I’ll have to take a closer look into his ideas, but there is certainly a rising prominence of ecology in philosophy.
From the start though, Zizek seems to be thinking about survival and human’s helplessness in the hands of nature, and Morton seems to see no reason to elevate nature (or preserve it?). I have learned that I value nature for many reasons, but can offer the idea that for us to value the aesthetics of nature is reason enough to want to value and elevate its importance.
On the Ground 