ABSTRACT
A philosophy of sustainability does not arise merely through efforts to conceptualize the material fact that there is an ecological interdependence between humanity and ecosystems of the earth, or the cosmos for that matter. It only arises if we also engage in a process of cultural symbolization that successfully articulates possible categories of mutual responsibility for a sustainable future of the interaction between humanity and ecosystems.2 In his discourses on environmental philosophy – Symbolism (1927) – Alfred N. Whitehead indicates that no environment is a priori bound to be favorable either to the existence of organisms or to their happiness. Really, for Whitehead, any community of organisms can only become or remain self-sustainable (persistent) in their environment if its systems of symbolisms are successful in expressing mutual sustainability, especially in terms of the multiple layers of the environment that surround the organism’s self-organization. Hence, the quest for a philosophy of sustainability would amount to the formulation of new visions of “happy symbolizations” that, in all constitutional uncertainty, would allow for humanity to serendipitously partake in the mutual transformation of all organisms and environments.
