Unexpected Visit
The two words, ecology and economy, relate to the same central concept. An oikos is a house, a dwelling-place: ecology is the science of what makes up a dwelling place, an environment, the way it works and holds together, the ‘logic’ of a material setting; and economy is the law that regulates behavior in an environment, the active ‘housekeeping’ that manages what is at hand. We cannot continue to pretend to ‘keep house’ for the human race if we refuse to pay any attention to where in the house the gas pipes and electricity wires are laid, which walls are supporting walls, or where the water is carried off by the guttering. We shall not be able adequately to deal with our crisis of ‘housekeeping’ without the sense of being a guest in the oikos of our world, the sense that ought to keep together the logic (governing principles) of the household, and the discipline of the household, ecology and economy.
July 14, 2024
Unexpected Visit