Humanökologie „zwischen Theorie und Praxis“: emanzipatorisch oder entmündigend? — Ein Versuch, den Teufel an die Wand zu malen

Abstract

Since the destruction of the environment is perceived as a existential and urgent problem for humankind, one might address to human ecology the claim, it should no longer waste its time handling theoretical matters but to contribute to the solution of the environmental crisis and finally show the politicians what they have got to do. This claim could mean, that in this difficult situation, the scientists should take the reins in their hands and that experts should make decisions instead of lay people.

I regard this opinion first as latently existing and second as erroneous or even dangerous. It implies a conception of science which is open to its instrumentalization. In particular, this claim means, that the organisation of a life-form should be derived only from scientific knowledge. Although it seems that the distinction of factual statements and value statements cannot be founded logically and although a majority of scientists believe in the impossibility of a non-normative science, I try to show that the distinction of facts and value judgements is pragmatically reasonable. This distinction can be traced back to an interest in rational communication, an emancipation. The historical process of differentiation of the political and the scientific system is oriented to these very values. Insofar as science only makes sense, if its statements do not claim the same validity as value judgements. If this nevertheless happens, science becomes an instrument of particular political interests. The experts keep the decision-making power and tacitly push through their own values which contributes to the incapacitation of lay actors. As a consequence of the existential dimension of the environmental problems, high expectations are addressed to human ecology. Since human ecology is a young discipline and in some aspects close to esoteric, anthroposophy and new age it is, compared with disciplines of a consolidated research-tradition, more exposed to the danger of instrumentalization. In this respect I propose to discuss the value-problematic and to reflect the role of the discipline in society.

Dieser Beitrag ist eine erweiterte und überarbeitete Fassung eines kritischen Statements, das ich in einer Plenumsdiskussion am Symposium “Humanökologie zwischen Theorie und Praxis” 1990 in Bad Herrenalp (BRD) abgegeben habe.