Ecosystems as Spontaneous Orders

Bibliographic Data

ID6251836
AuthorsAndy Lamey (0000-0001-7572-2292, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume27
Issue1
Pages64-88
Publication date2015-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0891-3811 • E-ISSN: 1933-8007
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/08913811.2014.947738
OpenAlexW2061920802
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited18

The notion of spontaneous order has a long history in the philosophy of economics, where it has been used to advance a view of markets as complex networks of information that no single mind can apprehend. Traditionally, the impossibility of grasping all of the information present in the spontaneous order of the market has been invoked as grounds for not subjecting markets to central planning. A less-noted feature of the concept of a spontaneous order is that when it is applied to ecosystems it yields a reasonably strong environmental ethic: It generates a presumption against interfering with their natural functioning in a manner that results in anthropogenic species loss. Such a presumption will permit some interventions in nature while precluding others. Environmental ethics could make welcome use of the idea of spontaneous order without necessarily endorsing its traditional application to markets. Notes1. Hayek Citation1945 outlines several of the key features of a spontaneous order (without using the term itself). Hayek's account is, in turn, influenced by that of Ludwig von Mises (Citation1920).2. The compatibility of Hayek's principles with extensive regulation of the economy has long been noted by conservative and libertarian critics. For representative examples, see Ebenstein Citation2001, 381n32.3. Related views are discussed (in non-Hayekian terms) in Vitek and Jackson Citation2008.4. The role of nutrients and energy is highlighted by Jay Odenbaugh (Citation2010, 247).5. Hayek's reference to "balance" should not be taken to entail the myth of the balance of nature critiqued by Daniel Botkin (Citation1996). Prices of equities and other goods are frequently in a state of flux, and the balance here is a highly dynamic one.6. See Hayek Citation1973, 37 (organism); 39-40 (crystals, complex organic compounds, iron filings); 46 (law, morals, customs).7. See Mora et al. Citation2011. The study has been criticized for underestimating the total number of species (Zimmer Citation2011).8. I do not take sides in the debate as to whether species are individuals, sets, "homeostatic property clusters," etc. My account is compatible with any of these views and with some forms of species pluralism. For an overview of the debate see Richards Citation2010.9. Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration, "World's Largest Geoengineering Deployment Off Coast of Canada's British Columbia," http://www.etcgroup.org/content/world's-largest-geoengineering-deployment-coast-canada's-british-columbia

Balance (ability · Economics · Epistemology · Impossibility · Law and economics · Order (exchange · Political science · Positive economics · Presumption · Spontaneous order · Climate Change and Geoengineering · Climate Change Policy and Economics · Global Energy and Sustainability Research · Law · Philosophy · Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub