Josef Vavroušek: In search of human values compatible with a sustainable way of life

Josef Vavroušek: In search of human values compatible with a sustainable way of life

At the level of polity, an important contribution to the debate about the orientation of European civilization was made by Josef Vavroušek, Czech environmentalist, management scientist and the first Minister of the Environment of post-communist Czechoslovakia. Short before his tragic death (he and his daughter perished in March 1995 under an avalanche in the High Tatra Mountains) he formulated ten values linked to unsustainable trends of development, and juxtaposed them with ten alternative value positions that were compatible with a sustainable way of life.

 

Josef Vavroušek: In search of human values compatible with a sustainable way of life

 

European civilization’s fundamental values related to unsustainable development trends (values A)

Alternative value positions compatible with a sustainable way of life (values B)

1. Man’s relationship with nature

Exploitative relationship with nature

Awareness of belonging to nature

2. Relationship between individual and society

Extreme attitudes:

a. one-sided emphasis on individualism and competition (typical of “real capitalism”),

b. one-sided emphasis on collectivism (typical of “real socialism”)

Balanced emphasis on individual and collective, competition supplemented by cooperation

3. Relation to the flow of time and the meaning of history

Obsession with the notion of quantitative growth

Emphasis on qualitative development of human society

4. Relation to meaning of one’s own life

Hedonistic orientation and consumerist way of life

Quality of life, voluntary modesty and avoidance of nonessential goods

5. Relation to freedom and responsibility

One-sided emphasis on human rights and freedoms, eroded awareness of shared responsibility for the course of events

Respect for the symmetry of human rights and freedoms with responsibility

6. Relation to level of our knowledge

“Arrogance of reason”

Carefulness in all interactions with nature and society

7. Relation to one’s own life

Alienation from one’s own life, weakened self-preservation instinct and feedback for correcting wrong or unsuccessful actions

Restored self-preservation instinct in people

8. Relation to future generations

Preference of short-term interests over long-term and permanent ones

Respect for long-term results of human activity

9. Relation to alternative opinions and other civilizations

Intolerance of others’ opinions

Mutual tolerance

10. Relation to public affairs

Giving up on shared decision making on public affairs

Development of participative democracy

Source: Potůček, M. et al. Public Policy. Prague: Karolinum Press, 2017, p. 32-33.