ABSTRACT
On the other hand, in Part I there are pertinent shifts in emphasis from one contribution to the other. In Sections 2-6 of this Introduction, we wish to draw the reader’s attention to some aspects which, in our understanding, are particularly important. First, we refer to the fact that the possibility of human life on Earth has its biophysical limits. Second, we discuss the separation of socio-culturally created realities from the supporting biophysical reality. This may in part explain the environmentally destructive consequences of human action that are growing in degree and scope throughout cultural evolution. However, not only may human agency unfold within the ‘false’ logic of a social system, but the actions may also have unintended consequences. Third, we want to remind ourselves that actions of human individuals are the intermediary between socio-cultural premises and environmental conditions. There are no direct causal influences of a society on its environment or vice versa. Fourth, we stress the importance of an evolutionary perspective which can connect present problems to earlier socio-cultural developments. And finally, we maintain that a human ecology restricted to pure science is no genuine human ecology at all.
