ABSTRACT
Hardin tells a story * about a common pasture on which a number of herdsmen graze their cows. It is to the advantage of each herdsman to put an extra cow on the common, but the collective result of their all doing so is the destruction of the common. ‘Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all’. Hardin applies this model situation to the problem of population growth, but, as he points out, it serves as the model for a whole range of environmental problems. Since, in his view, appeals to conscience are ineffective or even make things worse, he recommends as the only solution, ‘mutual coercion mutually agreed upon’.
