Prometheanism is a term popularized by the political theorist

John Dryzek John S. Dryzek (born 23 June 1953) is a Centenary Professor at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra's Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis. Education Dryzek has a B.A. (Honours) in ...

to describe an environmental orientation which perceives the Earth as a resource whose

utility As a topic of economics, utility is used to model worth or value. Its usage has evolved significantly over time. The term was introduced initially as a measure of pleasure or happiness as part of the theory of utilitarianism by moral philosopher ...

is determined primarily by human needs and interests and whose environmental problems are overcome through human innovation. The term was introduced in Dryzek's work, ''The Politics of the Earth: Environmental Discourses'' (1997). In contrast with other environmental perspectives, Prometheanism prioritizes human interests and needs over those of ecosystems (as with

deep ecology Deep ecology is an environmental philosophy that promotes the inherent worth of all living beings regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs, and the restructuring of modern human societies in accordance with such ideas. Deep ecolo ...

) or the individual needs of creatures (as in

eco-feminism Ecofeminism is a branch of feminism and political ecology. Ecofeminist thinkers draw on the concept of gender to analyse the relationships between humans and the natural world. The term was coined by the French writer Françoise d'Eaubonne in h ...

). In his 1992 book ''Green Delusions: An Environmentalist Critique of Radical Environmentalism'', Martin Lewis offered one of the first systematic comparisons of how Promethean environmentalism differs from traditional Arcadian forms of environmentalism such as

References

{{Reflist Environmental terminology 1990s neologisms

See also

References