Review article
A FLASH IN THE PAN?. Environmental crises, egoism and cooperation
Aleksandar Štulhofer
; Faculty of Philosophy, Zagreb
Abstract
The essay begins and ends with a treatise on reasons of persistence of environmental sensitivity and concern. Critical discussion of Downs's „issue-attention circle“ - regular cyclic media treatment of social problems - introduces the differentiation of environmental micro- and macro- crises thus helping in understanding of the relationships in the triangle: public - media - state. The suggested conclusion, quite contrary to the Down's one, emphasizes the reverse proportion link between the interest of the public for the environmental problems and the perception of successfulness of the state in their solving.
The central part of the essay discusses the classic problem of the collective irrationality in the consumption of common welfare ("tragedy of commons") and the issuing implications to the social ecology. From the position based on the theory of games (analytic limits of „prisoner's dilemma“) and on the politic and economic aspect of the „public choice“ approach, a model of cooperation has been suggested - the collection of principles constructed on the basis of empirically studied cases of the avoided „tragedies of commons „ - representing the instrument for canvassing the problem of ecological future as well.
The concluding part discusses the possibilities of the cooperation within the two groups of ecological crises patterns on the local and global level (cooperation here would denote the possibility of getting out of the critical state). One optimistic and one pessimistic environmental prognosis (impossibility of solving global ecological crises) are offered for further discussion.
Keywords
environmental future; environmental micro- and macro- crises; issue attention circle; prisoner's dilemma; rational choice; rules of cooperation; tragedy of commons
Hrčak ID:
138909
URI
Publication date:
15.1.1993.
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