Towards better axioms

We know the types of human actions that cause biodiversity loss – and other accompanying environmental and social problems. The problem is that the said actions constitute the normal way of life for the global middle class, resulting from the development and evolution of our current economic system. Said system in turn is underpinned by philosophical choices, assumptions and worldviews – axioms – prevalent among the colonialist and imperialist upper classes of the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

Seeking solutions within the extant system, oriented by the same axioms that have guided the development of the problematic economic system and current normal is futile – fire does not put out fire. Instead, we need to identify the problematic axioms, question their validity, envision better alternatives, and seek to ground our solutions onto more solid foundations.

The axioms we need to address pertain to our view of humans (both as species and as in respect to other species), our take on the nature of social reality, our perception of time, our normative ethical framework and our choice of logic. The prevalent axioms posit that 1) humans are guided by rationality to seek self-utility while at the top of the hierarchy of species, 2) evolution and other natural law like biological and physical aspects, not the constructionist and narrative reflexivity, drive the development of societies, 3) time is linear and progress a predetermined phenomenon, 4) consequentialism trumps deontology, virtue ethics and other possible normative ethical frameworks, and 5) solving a problem requires breaking it into smaller components instead of viewing it as embedded in larger systems, analytic logic is superior to synthetic logic.

Each of these axioms has been criticized individually – especially the naïve realism coloured ontology of economics and the strawman of “Homo Economicus”. However, less effort has been extended to viewing the set as a whole or envisioning alternatives. Through inviting discussion of the set of axioms identified to have played a role in the development of the current economic juggernaut this presentation contributes to the quest of imagining societies where living normally would protect and cherish life in all its forms.