Somewhere between everything and nothing

LIST OF CONTENTS

1  FORMATTING THE STATEMENT: HOW TO DEAL WITH IF-QUESTIONS  3

2  AWARDING MEANING: H OW TO DEAL WITH SEMANTIC ILLUSIONS  4

2.1  Sustainability: A potpourri of meanings  4

2.2  To achieve something: Is an ideal achievable  5

2.3  Developing smarter technologies: A three-part problem  5

3  SUMMARY: A REFORMULATION OF THE STATEMENT  6

4  REFERENCES  6

5  APPENDIX: T HE TAUTOLOGY IN DETAIL  6

  Can we give answers when we are still unsure of the meaning of the simplest terms in the question Is-  

  n t this like trying to solve equations of higher algebra before we have the laws of arithmetic straight  

  The appeal to abandon problems of detail and to turn to the great issues is an appeal to abandon  

  method and to jump to conclusions  

  N ELSON G OODMAN  

1  Formatting the statement: How to deal with If- Questions  

  The statement Sustainability can be achieved by developing smarter technologies can be  seen

  as an affirmative answer to the following question:  

  1 If: Sustainability can be achieved by developing smarter technologies  

  If- or respectively decision-demanding-questions allow two possibilities to answer: an affirma-  

  tive and a negative one Someone who wants to claim the proposition of the question is obliged  

  to give a proof Someone who wants to dispute the proposition of the question is obliged  to

  give a refutation To identify what such a proof or rather a refutation has to contain it is help-  

  ful to note down the question again to show the logical structure more clearly: Is it the case  

  that  

  1 If developing smarter technologies then Sustainability can be achieved  

  Obviously it concerns an implication clause which demands further propositions that allow  the

  transition from the antecedent to the succedent  

  A tautological transition can be constructed neither taking any scientific proofs into consid-  

  eration nor making any vague prognoses Only the arbitrary meaning of the term smart has  to

  be fixed in a goal-directed way:  

  2 A technology is smart iff 1 it meets the needs of the present without  

  compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs  

  Making use of the rule of complete substitution of the definiendum and the definiens we get  a

  tautology by putting line 2 in line 1 and taking the Brundland definition for Sustainability  

  Someone who accepts the definition 2 and the Brundland one is forced to agree with  the

1  Iff is used as a short form for if and only  if'.

  3  

statement simply because of locical reasons (? 6). This finding, indeed, leaves one unsatisfied. Thus, further investigations have to be undertaken.

Although explications are often given by scientists, it seems to me particulary characteristic of philoso- phical work that a great part of it is devoted to proposing and discussing explications of certain basic general concepts.

2 Awarding meaning: How to deal with semantic illusions

Terms do not have definite meanings in themselves. Nevertheless, there are subtle feelings, manifold associations, and diffuse ideas connected with them, particularly with 'Sustainability' and 'smarter technologies'. One can have the illusion of intactness of these terms and is se- duced to argue straight away either as an opponent or a proponent of the statement. However, to me this modus operandi does not seem fruitful and is even hazardous. There's a risk to get into heated and deceptive disputes, which occur only because of a different use of (central) terms. Therefore, the meanings of the speech-parts ought to be fixed.

2.1 Sustainability: A potpourri of meanings

Meanwhile, an immense number of definitions of the terms 'Sustainability' and 'sustainable de- velopment' 2 have been published. Numerous drafts have been presented, which are rich in nu- ances and attach importence to different details. Almost all of them are driven by one core idea that arose from ethical deliberations: the idea of inter- and intragenerational justice. The discourse of Sustainability extends across the fields of ecology (environment and nature), social systems (education, culture,…), and economy. The interdependence of these three fields is considered so that they are seen as one unit.

Also, in the discourse of Sustainability, different actors have different positions and interests. 3 As a result, Sustainability is discussed between the two extremes of 'very strong' conceptions on the one hand and 'very weak' ones on the other hand. One significant difference that distin- guishes competing camps is how they maintain 'the capital stock'. While 'strong' concepts focus on the maintenance of the 'natural' capital stock, 'weak' versions focus on the 'total' capital stock, which includes human-made capital.

In order to discuss the statement one has to name which version of Sustainability she/he is talking about.

2 The terms 'Sustainability' and 'sustainable development' can be linked as follows:

Sustainable development is a development which is oriented by the ideal of Sustainability.

3 To my amazement, there can be found a fullness of 'luxurious western worries' which are declared as aims of sustainable development.

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