Postmodernity and the Buddhist Studies of Ecology: Joanna Macy's Ecological Self and Buddhist Self-Denial

Abstract

Jacques Derrida (1930~2004) is in the front line of postmodernistic challenges and deconstruction philosophy which is his main ideology. Derrida's deconstructionism is the deconstruction of the absolute from the center and in the center of the subject of which must be deconstructed is the absolute, modern self-definition which has the aspects of uniformity and standardization. Joanna Macy criticized modern self-definition in her thesis "The Ecological Self: Postmodern Ground for Right Action" and advocates ecological self with a postmodernistic vision. She uses the modernistic self-concept in the same context with Buddhist self denial and moreover, she advocates ecological self-understanding based on Buddhist non-self and dependent origination. She also makes it clear that the ecological self-understanding and its practical model that she has suggested are based on postmodernism. Hence, it has been verified that eco-Buddhism uses the same grammar with postmodernistic ecology. Macy's ecological self-theory can only be in the same context with Buddhist bodhisattva. Her theory concludes with an action plan while in Buddhism the Buddhist self-denial can only be concluded with its practical usage of the bodhi's charity performance. The ecological practices as an ethical duty based on modern self-concept can only draw a line of demarcation between oneself and others and eventually can not function as a complete ecological idealism. Therefore, Macy emphasizes the best alternative solution for the current ecological crisis, which is to take action based on the ecological self-understanding that takes the same stance as Buddhist self-denial, dependent origination and bodhisattva.