Understanding the relationship between ethics, neoliberalism and power as a step towards improving the health of people and our planet

Abstract

This article seeks to evaluate the ethical underpinnings of neoliberalism and its associated power relations, and to illustrate the influence of such relationships on the health of people and the planet in the so-called era of the Anthropocene. We seek to reveal the current ethical standing of neoliberalism, and to identify other ethical positions and power relations that could be more conducive to promoting peaceful progress in an era during which all future life on our planet will be increasingly threatened by several organically inter-linked, human-caused crises, including that of the Earth’s biosphere. We conclude that on a planet close to many tipping points, beyond which irreversible entropy may ensue, a shift is needed away from neoliberal and anthropocentric belief systems towards a more ecologically aware perspective on life. Fostering the ethics of greater cooperation, mutual respect, deeper democracy, solidarity and enhanced social justice could facilitate the development of sustainability as a maxim of wisdom and praxis. Ultimately however, such progress requires the transformation of political power, as well as policies that are grounded in new ethical commitments.