International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention (IJHSSI)

ISSN (Online): 2319 – 7722, ISSN (Print): 2319 – 7714

www.ijhssi.org ||Volume 7 Issue 12 Ver. III ||December 2018 || PP 25-28

The Ecosophy of Felix Guattari: an analysis of philosophy for

environmental issues
Kellison Lima Cavalcante
1
Degree in Philosophy, Professor of the State Department of Education of the State of Bahia (Brazil).
Corresponding Author: Kellison Lima Cavalcante

ABSTRACT: The concept of Ecosophy was created by the French philosopher Felix Guattari, who expresses
how the subjects interact with each other and with the environment. With Ecosophy it is possible to understand
that nature and human beings are part of the same communicative ecosystem, thus proposing discussions
between environment and philosophy. Thus, this work had as objective to reflect on the ecosophical thought, as
an instrument of knowledge of the human sense in nature, through a theoretical discussion of the subject
addressed. It was based on aspects derived from the thoughts and records of Félix Guattari, who contributed
and aided in the problematization of the research. The Ecosophy proposed by Guattari addresses our
understanding, as part of the environment in which we live, and how we learn and act on environmental issues,
based on the three ecologies: the environment, social relations and human subjectivity ( mental). In this sense,
environmental problems are results of the evolution of society, in its economic, political, social and educational
aspects, which synthesize the subjectivity of the human condition. Thus, this subjectivity means our perception
about the world we live in and about ourselves, our way of thinking and acting to preserve and care for the
environment. According to Ecophotos proposed by Guattari, what is at stake is the way of living from now on on
this planet, in the context of the acceleration of the technical-scientific mutations and the considerable
demographic growth. In this way, it is possible to understand that Ecosophy is more than a reflection on
ecology, nature and human subjectivity, it is a search for concrete actions, taking into account the interaction of
man with the environment.
KEYWORDS: philosophy, ecology, environment.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------
Date of Submission: 15-12-2018 Date of acceptance: 31-12-2018
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------

I. INTRODUCTION
Today's society frequently discusses environmental issues, highlighting concern about the extinction of
natural resources, various forms of life and the consequent end of the human species on the planet. This is
mainly due to the increasing action of man-made deterioration of nature. Thus, the environmental crisis is a
result of our society, which interferes with nature, without worrying about the future.
Guattari (2009) states that individual and collective human lifestyles evolve towards a progressive
deterioration of our planet. In this sense, the environmental problems of contemporaneity are the result of
human actions without conscious projection over time, damaging the future of nature. The French philosopher
Félix Guattari, who sought to concatenate in a logical and heterogeneous way the concepts of what is natural
and what is cultural, relating nature and the environment to the human, becomes relevant.
According to Guattari (2009), we live on the planet under the acceleration of technical-scientific
mutations that can be identified in the current time, where we live an environmental crisis, political, social and
cultural revolutions. Through three records. Thus, the ecosystem proposal defended by Guattari seeks response
and actions for the environmental problem that we experience in the daily life.
Future ecological awareness should not be content with concern for environmental factors, but should
also aim at environmental devastation in the social and mental domains (GUATTARI, 2009: 41). Thus, it is
essential to understand the formation of the environmental subject currently inserted in the process of inclusion
in ecological practices and environmental actions to seek solutions to the anthropic actions of destruction. Thus,
without transformation of mentalities and collective habits there will be only illusory measures regarding the
material environment.
For Guattari (2009), Ecosophy is a practical and speculative model, ethical-political and aesthetic, not
being a discipline, but rather a simple and efficient renewal of the old ways of conception of the human being, of
society and of the environment.
In this sense, this research started from the problematic that Guattari (2009) affirms that the individual
and collective human ways of life evolve towards a progressive deterioration. Thus, this work had as objective

www.ijhssi.org 25 | Page
 The Ecosophy of Felix Guattari: an analysis of philosophy for environmental issues.

to reflect on the ecosphonic thought, as an instrument of knowledge of the human sense in nature and the
contribution in the learning process in the contemporary world.
This work is characterized by a qualitative research, requiring the use of exploratory and descriptive
method relating to the subject matter and theoretical abordage m on Ecosophy in the formation of
environmentally conscious subject. Thus, it consisted of an analysis and interpretation of the aspects coming
from the thought of Felix Guattari, who contributed and aided in the problematization.

II. THE ECOSOPHY

The concept of Ecosophy was created by the French philosopher Felix Guattari, who expresses the
ways in which subjects interact with each other and with the environment, from the knowledge of sustainable
environmental practices in the process of inclusion of the subject in the environment and part of nature, to
preservation and environmental awareness. According to Guattari (2009), Ecosofia addresses our understanding,
as part of the environment in which we live, and how we learn and act on environmental issues, based on the
three ecologies: environment , social relations and of human (mental) subjectivity. Ecology of the environment -
where everything is possible to happen, regarding flexible developments and the worst environmental
catastrophes; "Increasingly, natural imbalances will depend on human interventions", mainly regarding the
regulation of the relations between oxygen, ozone and carbon dioxide; Social ecology - must work on human
relationships, rebuilding them on all levels of socius; Subjective or mental ecology - will be led to reinvent the
subject's relationship as the body, the psyche (unconsciousness) and the conscious (GUATTARI, 2009: 52).
The ecosphonic thought consists in awakening the human condition in the environment as a
consequence of our actions without conscious projection, which have been occurring throughout the generations
and which have culminated in the serious ecological imbalances of contemporaneity, besides emphasizing the
formation of a new human being, with based on the three ecologies proposed by the philosopher. Guattari (2009)
points out that individual and collective human lifestyles evolve towards a progressive deterioration . Thus, the
focus of the philosopher's thinking through Ecosophy is the failure to understand and learn about the
environmental problem, the actions that caused it and its implications or projections over time.
In this sense, environmental problems are results of the evolution of society, in its economic, political,
social and educational aspects, which synthesize the subjectivity of the human condition. Thus, this subjectivity
means our perception about the world we live in and about ourselves, our way of thinking and acting to preserve
and care for the environment. According to Ecophotos proposed by Guattari, what is at stake is the way of living
from now on on this planet, in the context of the acceleration of the technical-scientific mutations and the
considerable demographic growth.
Thus, Ecosophy consists in the understanding and development of new social and analytical practices
in the search for the creation of new subjectivities. It would not be an exaggeration to emphasize that future
ecological awareness should not be content with concern for environmental factors, but should also aim at
environmental devastation in the social and mental domain. Without transformations of mentalities and
collective habits there will be only illusory measures concerning the material environment (GUATTARI,
2006:173).
In this perspective, according to Devall and Sessions (2004), Sofia comes from the Greek 'wisdom',
which relates to ethics, rules, rules and practice, thus, Ecosophy implies a shift from science to wisdom. Thus,
what we need in the contemporary world is the expansion of ecological thinking towards the thinking of
Ecosophy. The human condition becomes a being integrated into the environment, a complete, holistic being
that combines biological, mental, social and spiritual aspects.
The Ecosophy is part of the context, giving new strength and/or an action to reflect on the existing
problems in and thinking about education and the environment, as pointed out by Guattari (2009): Ecosophy
does not consider the dimension of the environment as synonymous with nature, it puts in equality the quality of
social relations, as well as the quality of human subjectivity, constructed from the relations of the human being
with himself, with the beings with each other, with the planetary environment (page 32).
Thus, the conditions of the environment can not be dissociated from our condition of existence on the
planet. This condition is directly associated with our ecological training, our training as an environmentally
conscious subject. The human being must learn to develop a transversal thinking to understand de facto and
implant in its essence, in order to understand the fragile relations that govern the global aspects of our planet, in
a more comprehensive sphere and the local aspects and pertinent to our development .
Ecosophy has as its principle the formation of citizens capable of understanding the environment in
which they live and seek answers to problems in general, such as ethical, scientific, cultural and, above all,
environmental. Ecosophy aims to encourage the student to observe and understand the world, as an integral part
of it, thus offering the possibility to act with respect and awareness.
In this way, the three ecologies described in the Felix Guattari Ecosophy make evident the problems
that are happening in our nature, which requires special care to be able to preserve and create conditions to

www.ijhssi.org 26 | Page
 The Ecosophy of Felix Guattari: an analysis of philosophy for environmental issues.

maintain the balance of the environment. Thus, Ecosophy is configured as a social need, creating an awareness
that all must care and preserve the environment for future generations, forming active individuals.
According to Guattari (2015), the three ecologies are unified in a common point, which consists in
releasing the principle antinomies between the levels ecosficos. Thus, E cosophy would be the search for an
ecosystemic dimension and no more anthropocentric relationship between man and the environment, his mind
and other humans, in search of answers to the contradictions of our actions . In this way, it consists of
understanding humanity's endowment with an open and infinite praxis, without molds, cuts or singularities
(GUATTARI, 2015).
We have depended on the environment for our survival since the evolution of our ancestors. However,
as an integral part of nature and above all a social being capable of provoking changes in the environment in
which we live, we can from Ecosophy, bring about permanent changes to take care of our nature.
According to Gallo (2003), mankind develops so your consciousness in time there comes a time where
you just do not feel the world creating values (myths) about the world. There is a desire to discover the laws that
govern our world, to want to understand the world in a rational way and to seek solutions to the problems
resulting from our actions. In this sense, it is possible to emphasize that philosophy is opposed to myth, since
philosophical consciousness is not limited to feeling the world. Thus, Ecosophy aims to interpret in a rational
way the questions and problems of our environment and then question reality.
From this perspective, Guattari's ecosophical thinking makes possible the relationship between the
human being and the reality that produces it and crosses it in its multiple dimensions. Thus, through the
understanding of the three ecologies it becomes essential for us, as human beings and inseparable part of the
environment, to seek the reconciliation of this relationship of possibility in our Planet to minimize the risks of
environmental problems and human interventions in nature.
Thus, it is possible to identify the practice of char erísticas Ecosophy as distributed in Table 1.

Table 1 - Understanding the characteristics of Ecosophy

ECOLOGY OF GUATARRI (2009) SENSE FOR STUDENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL - Catastrophes;
- Development or evolution;
- Human interventions;
- Nature.
MENTAL - Create new thoughts and actions;
- Relation of the subject with the body;
- Understand the purpose of the work developed;
- Understand the subject's purpose in the environment.
SOCIAL - Understanding human relationships;
- Ways of belonging to the social environment;
- Ways to collectively correct the environment in which he lives in
society.
Source: survey data.

According to Meksenas (1994), the human genre develops so much consciousness in time that there
comes a moment where it is not enough to feel the world creating values (myths) about the world. There is a
desire to discover the laws that govern our world, to want to understand the world in a rational way and to seek
solutions to the problems resulting from our actions. In this sense, it is possible to emphasize that philosophy is
opposed to myth, since philosophical consciousness is not limited to feeling the world. Thus, Ecosophy aims to
interpret in a rational way the questions and problems of our environment and then question reality.
In this perspective, ecosófico thought Guattari enables the relationship of humans with the reality that
produces it and crosses, in its multiple dimensions. Thus, through the understanding of the three ecologies it
becomes essential for us, as human beings and inseparable part of the environment, to seek the reconciliation of
this relationship of possibility in our Planet to minimize the risks of environmental problems and human
interventions in nature.

III. CONCLUSION
The Ecosophy proposed by Guattari addresses our understanding, as part of the environment in which
we live, and how we learn and act on environmental issues, based on the three ecologies: the environment,
social relations and human subjectivity ( mental). Thus, it was possible to understand that environmental
ecology has the characteristics of occurrence naturally. Mental ecology is related to the concepts of performance
and human benefit as an environmental and conscious being. In this way, social ecology has as its principle
human conviviality in society and the search for a collective solution to environmental problems both at the
local and global levels.
Ecosophy presents fundamental aspects to unveil the relationship we need to understand for
environmental awareness, ensuring the continuity of the world we live in, preserving nature and living things. It
www.ijhssi.org 27 | Page
 The Ecosophy of Felix Guattari: an analysis of philosophy for environmental issues.

was possible to understand that Ecosophy is more than a reflection on ecology, nature and human subjectivity, it
is a search for concrete actions, taking into account the interaction of man with the environment. In this way,
Ecosophy stimulates a broad environmental awareness, making it possible to extract from the field of learning
and knowledge the potential of becoming capable of understanding what our planet needs and reviewing our
actions.

REFERENCES
[1]. Deleuze, G .; Guattari, F. (1992). What is philosophy? Translation by Bento Prado Jr. and Alberto Alonso Muniz. Rio de Janeiro:
Ed. 34.
[2]. Devall, B .; Sessions, G. (2004). Deep ecology: giving priority to nature in our life. Águas Santas: Always-on-Foot Editions.
[3]. Gallo, S. (2009). Deleuze and education. Belo Horizonte: Authentic.
[4]. Guattari, F. (2009). The three ecologies. 20th ed. Trad. Maria Cristina F. Bittencourt. Campinas: Papirus, 56p.
[5]. Guattari, F. (2006). Caosmosis: a new aesthetic paradigm. 4th reprint. Rio de Janeiro: Publisher 34.
[6]. Guattari, F. (2015).What is ecosophy?: texts presented and organized by Stéphane Nadaud. Autonomous City of Buenos Aires:
Cactus. 448 p.

Kellison Lima Cavalcante" The Ecosophy of Felix Guattari: an analysis of philosophy for
environmental issues" International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention
(IJHSSI), vol. 07, no. 12, 2018, pp.25-28

www.ijhssi.org 28 | Page