Warwick Fox
Encyclopedia
Warwick Fox is an Australia
n philosopher and ethicist
. He is the author of Toward a Transpersonal Ecology and A Theory of General Ethics: Human Relationships, Nature, and the Built Environment.
Fox was a Research Fellow at the Centre for Environmental Studies at the University of Tasmania
from 1990 to 1998, when he took up an appointment at the Centre for Professional Ethics at the University of Central Lancashire
.
He has been a consulting editor of The Trumpeter: Journal of Ecosophy since 1988.
In recent years Fox has distanced himself from his original deep ecology based views put forward in his earlier works.
A state of Responsive Cohesion can be said to exist when a system's elements are mutually modifying; they 'respond' to each other.
the relational quality of responsive cohesion may be said to exist whenever the elements or salient features of things can be things can be characterised in terms of interacting (either literally or metaphorically) with each other in mutually modifying ways such that these mutually modifying interactions serve (at least functionally if not intentionally) to generate or maintain an overall cohesive order...responsive cohesion is cohesion that arises through the mutual responsiveness of the elements or salient features of the matter under consideration. A Theory of General Ethics: Human Relationships, Nature and the Built Environment
This is contrasted to Fixed Cohesion, where strict order between elements exists, such that they are not mutually determining. Fox likens this to a conversation of 'going through the motions', where little ro no change occurs in a relationship. At the other extreme to Fixed Cohesion is Discohesion, which is a situation of disorder, where system elements stand in no relation to each other.
However, for Fox, these latter relational qualities are not as far from each other as they would seem. He visualises them as bordering each other, but sharply so, so that any change between the two is not gradual but abrupt and shocking.
...fixed forms of cohesion can also shatter or collapse into their apparent opposite, that is, discohesion. We see this in the domain of politics, for example, every time a dictatorship is overcome by a revolutionary movement that initiates a period of chaos and lawlessness. In fact we see it when any rigid structure is overwhelmed by internal or externally imposed forces and shatters into pieces. Thus, rather than representing any kind of “move in the direction of” discohestion, this kind of change from fixed cohesion to discohesion is typically abrupt...Equally, order can forcefully be imposed upon a chaotic situation, as, say, when a new dictatorial regime emerges from civil chaos and imposes a strict order overnight.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n philosopher and ethicist
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
. He is the author of Toward a Transpersonal Ecology and A Theory of General Ethics: Human Relationships, Nature, and the Built Environment.
Fox was a Research Fellow at the Centre for Environmental Studies at the University of Tasmania
University of Tasmania
The University of Tasmania is a medium-sized public Australian university based in Tasmania, Australia. Officially founded on 1 January 1890, it was the fourth university to be established in nineteenth-century Australia...
from 1990 to 1998, when he took up an appointment at the Centre for Professional Ethics at the University of Central Lancashire
University of Central Lancashire
The University of Central Lancashire is a university based in Preston, Lancashire, England.The university has its roots in The Institution For The Diffusion Of Useful Knowledge which was founded in 1828. In 1992 it was granted University status by the Privy Council...
.
He has been a consulting editor of The Trumpeter: Journal of Ecosophy since 1988.
In recent years Fox has distanced himself from his original deep ecology based views put forward in his earlier works.
Ethical Theory
Fox's ethical theory attempts to develop principles of a 'General Theory of Ethics'. He cites influence from system and complexity theory, and develops a taxonomy of three types of organising principles: Fixed cohesion, responsive cohesion and, coining the term, discohesion.A state of Responsive Cohesion can be said to exist when a system's elements are mutually modifying; they 'respond' to each other.
the relational quality of responsive cohesion may be said to exist whenever the elements or salient features of things can be things can be characterised in terms of interacting (either literally or metaphorically) with each other in mutually modifying ways such that these mutually modifying interactions serve (at least functionally if not intentionally) to generate or maintain an overall cohesive order...responsive cohesion is cohesion that arises through the mutual responsiveness of the elements or salient features of the matter under consideration. A Theory of General Ethics: Human Relationships, Nature and the Built Environment
This is contrasted to Fixed Cohesion, where strict order between elements exists, such that they are not mutually determining. Fox likens this to a conversation of 'going through the motions', where little ro no change occurs in a relationship. At the other extreme to Fixed Cohesion is Discohesion, which is a situation of disorder, where system elements stand in no relation to each other.
However, for Fox, these latter relational qualities are not as far from each other as they would seem. He visualises them as bordering each other, but sharply so, so that any change between the two is not gradual but abrupt and shocking.
...fixed forms of cohesion can also shatter or collapse into their apparent opposite, that is, discohesion. We see this in the domain of politics, for example, every time a dictatorship is overcome by a revolutionary movement that initiates a period of chaos and lawlessness. In fact we see it when any rigid structure is overwhelmed by internal or externally imposed forces and shatters into pieces. Thus, rather than representing any kind of “move in the direction of” discohestion, this kind of change from fixed cohesion to discohesion is typically abrupt...Equally, order can forcefully be imposed upon a chaotic situation, as, say, when a new dictatorial regime emerges from civil chaos and imposes a strict order overnight.
See also
- Arne NæssArne NæssArne Dekke Eide Næss was a Norwegian philosopher, the founder of deep ecology. He was the youngest person to be appointed full professor at the University of Oslo....
- Deep ecologyDeep ecologyDeep ecology is a contemporary ecological philosophy that recognizes an inherent worth of all living beings, regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs. The philosophy emphasizes the interdependence of organisms within ecosystems and that of ecosystems with each other within the...
- Growth FetishGrowth FetishGrowth Fetish is a book about economics and politics by the Australian liberal political theorist Clive Hamilton. Published in 2003 it became a best-seller in Australia, an unusual feat for what is normally considered a dry subject....
- Transpersonal ecologyTranspersonal ecologyTranspersonal ecology is largely associated with Warwick Fox, although the work of some other people, such as Rupert Sheldrake and James Lovelock, has some relevance to the field....