Abstract

This paper presents a part of my research project, which is a comprehensive study of the relation between deep ecology and Martin Heidegger’s philosophy. Its aim is to consider whether there is an actual coincidence between deep ecology and the philosophy of Martin Heidegger or whether it only appears so, on the basis of superficial coincidences and historical contingencies. The research that I have carried out to date strongly inclines me to state that deep ecology is largely justified to trace its philosophical heritage to Heidegger. Moreover, it seems that deep ecology does not take full advantage of the potential of Heidegger’s philosophy to lend support to its own foundational assumptions. In this paper I draw attention to the fact that deep ecology, concentrating on such issues as ethos related to the concept of “dwelling the Earth” or his critique of technology, ignores his rejection of the concept of the “great chain of being” in works from the mid 1930’s, which perfectly corresponds with eco-egalitarianism and can be recognized as the theory of the “ontological egalitarianism.”