Arne Næss, the mountaineer philosopher who invented "deep ecology"
Audio 03:40
Arne-Næss, bivouac and philosophy © éditions-Wildproject
By: Agnès Rougier
16 mins
Arne Næss, Norwegian philosopher, heir to Gandhi and John Muir, gave ecology its first philosophical expression by founding the Deep Ecology movement, a movement that has had a lasting influence on contemporary ecology.
Arne Næss, unconditional mountain lover and experienced mountaineer, drew from this harsh and wild nature the very essence of his philosophy.
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The call of the mountain
Arne Næss, born in 1912, grew up on a high hill near Oslo, Norway. From an early age, he explored the mountains that surround him and discovered the Hallingskarvet plateau: “…
when I was 10 or 11 years old, I climbed this mountain and I saw her as a kind of father, big and benevolent. … There is a form of balance on this great and beautiful mountain (…) for me it was alive, so I thought the best thing to do would be to live on the mountain itself.
"
At 13, Arne Næss climbed his first summit - the Smiubaeljen, 1916 m - with a friend. In his interviews with the American musician David Rothenberg, he says that by discovering the peaks that surround him, as he ascends, the "
crazy idea
" of climbing all the highest peaks in Norway him. came ; a feat that he achieved between the ages of 16 and 17, and this passion led him to be, in 1950, the first Norwegian to reach the top of Tirich Mir - 7,708 m - in the Himalayas.
Arne Næss would never think of this relationship with the mountains as a competition or a confrontation, but rather as the joy of being one with an immensely free environment: “… the
smaller we feel around the mountains, the more chance we have of participating. to their greatness
”.
Psychoanalysis and Philosophy
The young man studied philosophy at the University of Oslo and in 1933 he left for Vienna, Austria where, deciding that to teach philosophy, one must first know oneself, he undertook a psychoanalysis with a colleague of Freud.
Besides Norwegian, Arne Næss learns English, German and French, and thanks to his training in classical philosophy, he reads Spinoza in the text. The 17th century philosopher, for whom reason should not obscure feelings, leads the young mountaineer to "listen to his stomach" facing the mountain so as not to take unnecessary risks. And under his influence, he rethinks the relationship between humans and nature: "
Spinoza speaks of the infinity of beings and the infinity of possible relationships between them
", building the beginnings of his deep ecology - in English
Deep ecology
-.
And in 1937, at the age of 25, Arne Næss made his childhood dream come true: he embarked on the construction of a wooden and stone refuge on the high mountain plateau of Hallingskarvet at 2000 m above sea level, between Oslo and Bergen. .
The hut of crossed stones
Tvergastein
, "
the hut of crossed stones
", so named by the young man who is fascinated by the quartz crystals encrusted in the stones which surround him, is 5 hours by train from Oslo then 3 hours of ascent from the hamlet of Ustaoset, where the Næss family spent their holidays.
In an austere and harsh landscape, this solitary hut of 8 by 5 meters is for Arne Næss the ideal silent refuge, where reflection and philosophical thought can flourish in contact with wild nature.
At the refuge, the comfort is spartan: a stove to eat, a few candles, blankets, a tape recorder to listen to music and many books.
In summer, the philosopher drinks water from streams, in winter, he melts the snow.
But leading a simple life, far from abundance, does not imply suffering: "
in Tvergastein, it is always allowed to taste a whiskey, listen to music and enjoy the company of a good friend
" relates Mathilde Ramadier in the book she has dedicated to the philosopher,
Arne Næss, thinker of a joyful ecology
.
Retirement is conducive to study and it is there that Arne Næss, influenced from 1931 by Gandhi's non-violent thought, will learn to read Sanskrit.
But the philosopher with insatiable curiosity also made Tvergastein an "
institute of petrology, zoology and botany, for fun
" he told David Rothenberg.
Live in tune with your convictions
Professor of philosophy at the University of Oslo from 1939, renowned for his eccentricity and joie de vivre, Arne Næss is appreciated by his students.
Between university lectures all over the world and his passion for mountaineering, the philosopher is a great traveler, but he climbs to Tvergastein as soon as he can, and he will spend a total of a dozen years in his refuge where he will develop his theory of deep Ecology.
In 1943, while the Second World War shook Europe, the Nazis, who considered the University of Oslo as a center of rebellion, were preparing to round up the students to send them to concentration camps. Arne Næss is then contacted by the resistance to warn them but the young Norwegians will not have time to flee and many will be taken prisoner. Following this event, the philosopher joined the Allied secret services.
Arne Næss, who always wanted to live as close as possible to his convictions, left his chair of philosophy at the University of Oslo in 1969 to devote himself to ecological activism.
Influenced in particular by Rachel Carson and her book
Silent Spring
on the role of DDT in the disappearance of birds, he entered politics by supporting the Norwegian Greens and participated in many environmental and non-violent struggles in Norway.
In 1973, the philosopher wrote the founding article of deep ecology and in 1988, he became the first secretary of the NGO Greenpeace in Norway.
Deep ecology versus shallow ecology
In his article
Deep Ecology
- "
Deep ecology
" - Arne Næss offers a platform eight basic points that are not directives, but rather guides each can learn from.
The philosopher proposes to decenter our human gaze superior to other species: "
he puts forward the value of non-human lives, which must be considered apart from their usefulness: non-human species do not constitute a reservoir in which the 'human beings can draw according to their needs
,' explains Mathilde Ramadier. Within the ecosystem - in which humans are a stakeholder - the diversity of life forms, their complexity and the complexity of the relationships they maintain, give them an intrinsic value that humans do not have the right to reduce to meet its needs if they are not vital.
The deep ecology opposes the shallow ecology, the
greenwashing
and green neoliberalism which aims to conserve resources to support the development of rich countries "
superficial ecology is to change nothing in his lifestyle then find “bandages” solutions;
the other implies, on the contrary, to live in such a way that we leave a heritage worthy of the name to our children, that is to say in a natural way, leaving a planet as unscathed as possible.
But without forgetting to enjoy life.
Arne Næss, who gave ecology its first philosophical expression, died at the age of 96 in 2009.
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Find out more
:
Deep ecology,
Arne Næss, 1973, PUF editions, 2021
Arne Næss, towards deep ecology,
interviews with David Rothenberg, 1992, Wildproject editions, 2017
An ecosophy for life. Introduction to deep ecology,
Arne Næss, éditions du Seuil, 2017
Arne Næss, thinker of a joyful ecology,
Mathilde Ramadier, Actes sud editions, 2017
And he trod the earth with lightness
, texts: Mathilde Ramadier, drawings: Laurent Bonneau, 2017, Futuropolis editions
The call of the mountain / The call of the mountain
, 1997, documentary by Jan van Boeckel /
Silent Spring
, Rachel Carson, 1962, Wildproject editions, 2020
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