Open access
DEEP AND SHALLOW ECOLOGY – SIMILARITIES AND DIF-FERENCES IN THE USE OF THE PATHOS ARGUMENT
Joanna GRUSZKA1
Publication language: English
Journal article
Transformations No. 4 (119) 2023,  Publication date: 29 December 2023
Keywords: shallow ecology, deep ecology, environmental discourse, pathos, Arne Naess, environmental activism
Abstract The aim of this article is to show the differences in the use of the pathos-type arguments between people representing the so-called shallow and deep ecology. This distinction, by Arne Naess, relates to the assumptions behind a general concern for the environment and is based on a disagreement about an anthropocentric view of the world. Although both sides of the discussion use expressions that affect emotions, I argue for substantial differences in the pathos-type argument posed by the thinkers representing the two categories of the Naessian typology: the so-called deep and shallow ecology. In the article, I show that among the lat-ter, the emotional message is directed in such a way as to emphasise problems, even exaggerate certain phenomena, in order to draw the audience’s attention to the issue, and usually cause negative emotions. Deep ecologists, on the other hand, focus on conveying the emotional value of the planet, animals, plants, de-objectifying them and initiating a reflective process in the reader about the hu-man place in the world. The issue of the different ways in which pathos-type persuasion is used in the argumentation of authors categorised as shallow and deep ecologists is part of the broader ecological discourse, and solving it enables us to better understand both the field of ecology and ecophilosophy, which today prove to be more relevant than ever before.
Faculty of Philosophy, The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland
ORCID: joanna.gruszka@kul.pl
E-mail: