Twee Politiek-filosofische Uitdagingen van het Ecologisme: Radicale Rechtvaardigheid en Autonomie

The importance of the environmental issue contrasts with the attention
this issue received in contemporary political philosophy. This article examines the
challenges the ecological crisis evokes for political philosophy. Looking at the ensuing ecological debate, the ecological crisis creates new challenges in two major
fields: justice and the good life. Because of the ecological crisis, justice needs to be
radicalised in time (future generations) and in space (global). The radicalisation of
justice seems difficult to realise without authoritarian policy measures. This conflict with democracy is less apparent in political ecology. This political doctrine
finds its distinctive character in the concept of autonomy. The aim of autonomy as
a political act is to allow people to realise their conception of the good life. If there
is a connection with the natural environment in this conception, it can be the base
of an ecological political theory.