Practical Primal Philosophy I: Meaning of “Intrinsic” in ISD

This series of Practical Philosophy posts looks at some of humanity’s current big issues from a fresh perspective. They will also explain key terms and ideas relating to Intrinsic Sustainable Development and the Primal Episteme. This post looks at the “Intrinsic” in Intrinsic Sustainable Development.

The Concise Oxford English Dictionary states that “Intrinsic” means “belonging naturally; essentially”. This is a very convenient definition for our purposes since both natural and essential are very significant words in our fresh perspective. But at face value, the use of “Intrinsic” in Intrinsic Sustainable Development (ISD) means that we are describing a new kind of development, one that is sustainable into the distant future without any extra effort or special considerations. This does not mean that sustainability will just happen without human intervention, concern and effort: it does mean that sustainability and human activity become interwoven, indistinguishable or one and the same as.

Notice that in the paragraph above, we do not say that sustainability and economic activity become one and the same, although “economic” is very close to what we have in mind. The problem with using the word “economic” is that economics has been defined and developed in ways that deliberately separate industrious human activity from the encompassing wider social and ecological worlds. It is almost as if economics, at least in theory, somehow takes place in an isolated vacuum or bubble. So we try and avoid the word “economic” until we have a better understanding of the complete situation.

To get back to the task of this post, we can take “Intrinsic” to refer to that kind of human activity in which social and ecological relations belong naturally or essentially. In some ways this statement has little meaning. Just how, for example, can you have living human beings who depend upon natural resources and other living beings for their own existence conducting activities that do not relate to the society and ecosystem of which they are constituent parts? How long would you last living alone, without prosthetics, on Mars?

But the statement is replete with meaning precisely because some people think social and ecological relations are unimportant. It is not that they would say “I would be okay living alone on a lifeless planet” rather they have not considered, valued or experienced the value of social and ecological relations; they have ignored them or assumed that they would be there forever no matter what they did. This ignoring social and ecological relations or taking them for granted may or may not occur at the individual level – as indeed it does, people are free to think what they like and we would not want to impose upon that. But when it occurs at social levels in societal values and cultures, and hence in the structures and institutions that constitute a society, then that is something that we cannot accept.

Hence the current big issue that is represented by our use of the word “Intrinsic” has to do with the considering or neglecting social and ecological relations in societies and important social institutions. If we go back to economics for example, you may look at any standard economic test book as used in schools, colleges and universities and find social and ecological relations either absent or marginalised by economic theory. The same is true of standard accounting textbooks that provide the skills and procedures to assess the performance of our companies and other organisations. But when it comes to one of the most influential institutions of our day, the stock markets, one that daily shifts millions of dollars around the world, you will find a preoccupation with the abstractions of numeric analysis and wealth measured solely in large amounts of money.

We can now be more specific with our use of the word “Intrinsic”. We mean that sustainable development is a natural and essential part of human activity to be found in a revised understanding and practice of economics, accounting and markets. In turn, for us, this means that social and ecological relations are represented in the theory and practice of economics and, more importantly, in societal values and attitudes.

Practical Examples

There are many examples of initiatives designed to acknowledge and respond to the social and ecological relations that make our lives possible, healthy and fulfilling. Within this category lie environmental management, accounting, regulations and legislation; corporate social responsibility; the Global Reporting Initiative; sustainable development management and accounting; and a huge number of diverse NGOs and charities.

But there are few examples that can claim to have social and ecological relations occurring intrinsically - naturally and essentially - within their activities. The dominant thinking of our age does not have the capacity to do this. We would typically have to look to a time before our own age, to other ways in which knowledge has been possible.

However, there are initiatives that are striving towards intrinsic social and ecological relations either by using ideas from a previous age or by basing their approach on the empirically-grounded science that is now revealing the extent and importance of social and ecological relations. The revival of ancient Chinese thought in initiatives such as “Tian Xia” or all-under-heaven thinking (see PR Blog) is an example of how ideas from an earlier age can be used to take us into the future. Similarly Ecological Economics uses the findings of empirically-grounded science to create fresh economic insights. Whilst in business itself the Phoenix Economy Report from Volans report argues that a new generation of entrepreneurs are starting to embed social and ecological relations in their core values and the emerging Benefit Corporations (see PR blog) in the USA changing laws so that they may work towards a Triple Top Line approach in which social and environmental gains are made along with the economic in everyday business activity.

But all these worthy initiatives are just that – there is a long way to go to before social and ecological relations become intrinsic to our society and culture.

Research Example

“New model disentangles interdependencies between social and ecological systems.”

Mapping Social & Ecological Relations in Madagascar

The above figure is a map showing a rural agricultural system in Madagascar as a social-ecological network. The map shows locations of different clans, their social relationships, settlements, forest patches and the ecological links.

Click here to find out more about this research at the Stockholm Resilience Centre

China and the Primal Episteme

The ancient possibility of knowledge that China possesses is well placed to resonate effectively with the Primal episteme. This is because it incorporates a knowledge of mankind alongside that of other things.

The ancient possibility of knowledge that China possesses is best appreciated in contrast to the dominant possibility of knowledge in the Modern Western world. One of the key defining features of the Modern Western world is the Modern episteme as defined by Michel Foucault. Within the Modern episteme the role of “epistemological man” is central and definitive (Foucault 1970; Birkin & Polesie 2011). Briefly the significance of “epistemological man” means that knowledge in the Modern Human sciences is a knowledge that has been created

of man, by man and for man.

This means that knowledge in the Modern Human Sciences is made possible by reflexive self-referencing; a kind of species-solipsism. This helps to explain how Modern progress has benefit man at the expense of the natural world. It has done so because knowledge in the Modern human sciences did not recognise a natural world as may be proven by a quick examination of any standard Modern text explaining how mankind is to be organised to increase its own wealth; i.e. economics, accounting and management where  nature per se does not exist. This is a key driver of unsustainable development.

So how does ancient China differ? It differs in many ways that for the moment we can represent simply by Tian Xia which may be translated as “All under Heaven”. The concept of Tian Xia is closely associated with civilization and order in classical Chinese philosophy, and it has formed the basis for the world view of the Chinese people and nations influenced by them since at least the first millennium BC. A first point to notice is the age of this concept - the first millennium BC - which is indicative of its intrinsic sustainability. (In contrast the Modern episteme in the West lasted a mere 200 years old before it undermined its own existence with unsustainable forms of development.)

We should be aware that Tian Xia in its application and development in China was not of course all good. It did for example underpin the idea that the Chinese emperor acted with a Mandate from Heaven and as such was effectively the centre of the world and all powerful.

However, the significance of Tian Xia for present purposes is that it was not based on a possibility of knowledge that referred its own origins back to itself as in the Modern episteme’s knowledge of man, by man and for man. Tian Xia embraced – as it says – “All under Heaven”.

Tian Xia or "All under Heaven"

Green China?

Is corporate China ready for the green economy? A report from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) asked that question in October 2012 (ACCA and WWF 2012). In PR’s opinion, no! But corporate China is beginning to say the rights things, think about what is needed for a truly better world and seek sustainability credentials.

China has a massive sustainability hill to climb: very high levels of pollution; an avid shopping culture among those Chinese who can afford it; widespread poverty; a huge population; overcrowded cities; and an economy that can seem more dedicatedly capitalist, growth-minded and money conscious than the worst excesses on Wall Street. So PR does not think that China is ready for the Green Economy.

BUT, China and Chinese people are nothing if not adaptable and pragmatic. Chinese history is a record of how China adapts, accommodates change and survives - for over a very sustainable 3,000 years. Chinese people possess strong pragmatic elements, deep-seated ethical awareness and an ancient culture grounded on principles of harmony between heaven, earth and mankind. So PR thinks it quite possible that China could become Green and sustainable before the West.

China and the Primal Episteme

Chinese accounting students who wanted to learn how accountants in the West  deal with accounting for social, environmental and sustainable development aspects of company performance had a shock when they attended Frank Birkin's lecture at Jinan University, Guangzhou, on Saturday 27th. October 2012. Instead of showing them how to do it, Frank showed them how scientific knowledge of the world now indicates that ancient Chinese ways of thinking provide a better foundation for social, environmental and sustainable development accounting than does neo-classical economics and free market idealism.

It is strange that educated Chinese people are not aware just how important their cultural and philosophical inheritance is to the world as a whole. Prof Rob Gray had set the scene by challenging Western notions of what accounting ought to be and this opened minds to the possibility that accounting could be very different - not just a servant to capitalism and financial markets. With the possibility of different forms of accounting established in their minds, these young Chinese accounting students were only too pleased to learn from Frank that they - the Chinese people - could develop their own, more harmonious and sustainable forms of accounting for China ... and for the world.

A slide from Frank's presentation in Jinan University, Guangzhou.

Please email Frank if you would like to learn more about how ancient Chinese culture and Philosophy can help to make the world a better place. You may also enquire about his itineraries in the near future to see if he could make a presentation at your university or college.