If there is a Greater Ecological Good: On the Way to an Ethico-Politics with Zizek and Sluga

Abstract

Is there such a thing as “a/the greater good”? Could it be conceived in radically ecological terms? By critically drawing on skeptical insights presented by Slavoj Žižek and Hans Sluga, the article articulates what I am calling “a/the greater ecological good” as an end and as the ethico-political means to this end. I begin by describing this good as an aim: the survival-flourishing of earthly entities and environs. Its contours and limits are outlined, and various Žižekian objections are addressed. Next, the ethical and political means for this good’s realization are delineated. We are summoned to allow things to survive-thrive (the ethical dimension). But the existing order excessively disallows things from surviving-flourishing, so we are compelled to struggle against it and foster a society of letting-be (the political dimension). The article concludes by proffering an outline of a possible strategy for this political struggle. It would involve (a) the collaborative conception of a blueprint of this envisioned society; (b) popularizing and building mass solidarity around the blueprint; and (c) leveraging this solidarity to, ideally, peacefully implement the blueprint; otherwise, ethico-political violence may be required in order to realize this greater ecological good.