ノン・ヒューマンの政治理論からの「持続可能な開発目標」の再構成

――いのちの循環を自覚できる主体の立ち上げのために――

抄録

“Transforming” is the keyword for goal-based governance under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which began in 2015. Underlying the word, there is a sense of crisis that human beings will destroy the Earth and the human race will become extinct if current conditions continue as they are. However, there have been criticisms of the SDGs, such as (1) “society is not monolithic” and (2) it is impossible to achieve the goals while preserving capitalism itself.

In this regard, stances on the SDGs are diverse between those who aim to achieve the goals while revising the current capitalist system and those who advocate a decisive break from it. Regardless of which position one takes, however, “the environment” has been black-boxed as a passive entity to be destroyed by economic development, and the subjectivity of the environment itself has not been examined.

This paper argues that while each of the goals of the SDGs is worth pursuing, this black-boxed of the non-human attributes to three “cognitive biases” that lie on the human side of the SDG drivers, and as a result, it is difficult to cultivate a sense of wonder, leading the SDGs unachievable. To overcome this situation and deepen the SDGs, it will redefine the word “partnership,” adding the existence of non-humans, identify the lack of awareness that “life is in the flow, and confirm the significance of Lovelock’s Gaia theory, which promotes understanding of the self-regulating system of the Earth. This paper focuses on the Gaia theory because non-humans will play a significant role in understanding the relationship between Earth and humans lives, contributing to achieving the SDGs. First, it clarifies the origin of air and water on Earth. Second and third, it identifies why the Earth does not become an extreme cold zone for life, and why the Earth does not turn into a scorching hot zone for life. It also reminds emergent properties and dynamic equilibrium in Gaia theory to overcome cognitive bias by the separated understanding of goals and targets.

Finally, it will close by confirming that the SDGs need to be updated in a way that enables us to be aware of both the destruction of the Earth due to the de facto “state of war” between humankind and the Earth and the “cycle of life” that includes non-humans.