World
Wide Fund for
Nature
Brief definitions of sustainable development
Interpretations
of Sustainable Development
Article: Although development is a complex, sometimes contradictory,
and always multifaceted phenomenon, it has been studied primarily
in the guise of economic growth, without qualification. The notion
of sustainable development has been introduced, in recent years, to
help restore both complexity and balance to discussions of development.
That more complex concept is our focus here. But sustainable development,
in its turn, is subject to different, and often conflicting, interpretations.
Our first purpose here is to review some of the most common of these
interpretations. We then go on to probe beneath the surface of these
interpretations to discover the implicit or explicit philosophies
they presuppose. Then, finally, we relate these philosophies to work
specifically in the field of philosophy of technology.
