Garrett James Hardin (April 21, 1915 – September 14, 2003) was an Americanecologist andmicrobiologist. He focused his career on the issue ofhuman overpopulation, and is best known for his exposition of thetragedy of the commons in a 1968 paper of the same title inScience,[1][2][3] which called attention to "the damage that innocent actions by individuals can inflict on the environment".[4] He is also known for Hardin's First Law of Human Ecology:[5] "We can never do merely one thing. Any intrusion into nature has numerous effects, many of which are unpredictable."[6][7]: 112
A major focus of his career, and one to which he returned repeatedly, was the issue ofhuman overpopulation. This led to writings on controversial subjects such as advocatingabortion rights,[14] which earned him criticism from thepolitical right, and advocating strict limits to all immigration, which earned him criticism from thepolitical left. In his essays, he also tackled subjects such asconservation[15] andcreationism.[16] He was also a proponent ofeugenics;[10] his membership in theAmerican Eugenics Society dates to 1956, and Hardin served as a director from 1971 to 1974 (the American Eugenics Society changed its name to the Society for the Study of Social Biology in 1973).[17]
Neomalthusian approach and "The Tragedy of the Commons"
Hardin blamed thewelfare state for allowing the tragedy of the commons; he claimed that where the state provides for children and supports large families as a fundamental human right,[citation needed]Malthusian catastrophe is inevitable. Hardin stated in his analysis of the tragedy of the commons that "Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all."[1]: 1244 Environmental historiansJoachim Radkau,Alfred Thomas Grove andOliver Rackham criticized Hardin "as an American with no notion at all how Commons actually work".[18]
In addition, Hardin's pessimistic outlook was subsequently contradicted byElinor Ostrom's later work on success of co-operative structures like the management ofcommon land,[19] for which she shared the 2009Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences withOliver E. Williamson. In contrast to Hardin, they stated neither commons or "Allmende" in the generic nor classical meaning are bound to fail; to the contrary "the wealth of the commons" has gained renewed interest in the scientific community.[20] Hardin's work was also criticized[21] as historically inaccurate in failing to account for thedemographic transition, and for failing to distinguish betweencommon property andopen access resources.[22][23]
Despite the criticisms, the theory has nonetheless been influential.[10][24]
In 1993, Garrett Hardin publishedLiving Within Limits: Ecology, Economics, and Population Taboos, which he described at the time as a summation of all his previous works. The book won the 1993Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science. In the book, he argues that the natural sciences are grounded in the concept of limits (such as thespeed of light), while social sciences, such as economics, are grounded in concepts that have no limits (such as the widespread "infinite-Earth" economic models). He notes that most of the more notable scientific (as opposed to political) debates concerningecological economics are between natural scientists, such asPaul R. Ehrlich, and economists, such asJulian Simon, one of Ehrlich's most well known and vocal detractors. A strong theme throughout the book is that economics, as a discipline, can be as much aboutmythology andideology as it is about real science.
Hardin goes on to label those who reflexively argue for growth as "growthmaniacs",[25] and argues against the institutional faith inexponential growth on a finite planet. Typical of Hardin's writing style, he illustrates exponential growth by way of a Biblical metaphor.[26] Usingcompound interest, or "usury", he starts from the infamous "thirty pieces of silver" and, using five percent compounded interest, finds that after around 2,000 years, "every man, woman, and child would be entitled to only (!) 160,000 earth-masses of gold". As a consequence, he argues that any economy based on long-term compound interest must eventually fail due to the physical and mathematical impossibility of long-term exponential growth on a finite planet.[26] Hardin writes, "At this late date millions of people believe in the fertility of money with an ardor seldom accorded to traditional religious doctrines".[26]: 67 He argues that, contrary to some socially-motivated claims, population growth is also exponential growth, therefore even a little would be disastrous anywhere in the world, and that even the richest nations are not immune.
Believing in individuals' choice of when to die, they killed themselves in theirSanta Barbara home in September 2003, shortly after their 62nd wedding anniversary. He was 88 and she was 81.[28]
Hardin's last bookThe Ostrich Factor: Our Population Myopia (1999), a warning about the threat of overpopulation to the Earth's sustainable economic future, called for coercive constraints on "unqualifiedreproductive rights" and argued thataffirmative action is a form ofracism.
1991. "Paramount positions in ecological economics." InCostanza, R. (editor)Ecological Economics: The Science and Management of Sustainability, New York: Columbia University Press.ISBN0231075626
1991. "The tragedy of the 'Unmanaged' commons – population and the disguises of providence." In: R. V. Andelson, (editor),Commons Without Tragedy, London: Shepheard-Walwyn, pp. 162–185.ISBN0389209589 (U.S.)
^"Debunking the Tragedy of the Commons".CNRS News. French National Center for Scientific Research. January 5, 2018. RetrievedNovember 29, 2022.In December 1968, the American biologist Garrett Hardin (1915–2003) published one of the most influential articles in the history of environmental thought. ... The concept was soon being widely cited in academic circles, as well as by journalists, ecologists, government authorities and politicians. Many saw it as a scientific justification for the state control or (more often) the privatization of resources and ecosystems. Today, our historical perspective and improved understanding show this line of thinking for what it is: a misconception with no concrete basis, skewed by a highly ideological perception of social systems.
^Hardin, Garrett (1973). "Chapter 1: I Become an Abortionist".Stalking the Wild Taboo. William Kaufmann, Inc. pp. 3–9.ISBN978-0913232033.
^Hardin, Garrett (1982). "Chapter 22: Conservation's Secret Question".Naked Emperors. William Kaufmann, Inc. pp. 190–195.ISBN978-0865760325.
^Hardin, Garrett (1982). "Chapter 7: "Scientific Creationism" – Marketing Deception as Truth".Naked Emperors. William Kaufmann, Inc. pp. 49–57.ISBN978-0865760325.
^Keynote Address 'We must learn again for ourselves what we have inherited', Wilderness Conference, SF, 1970, or perhaps *A 110. The economics of wilderness.Natural History, 78(6):20-27. 1969.
Soroos, Marvin S. "Garrett Hardin and tragedies of global commons."Handbook of Global Environmental Politics (2005): 35–50.onlineArchived October 26, 2018, at theWayback Machine
Wild, Peter (1978). "14: Garrett Hardin and Overpopulation: Lifeboats vs. Mountain Climbers".Pioneer Conservationists of Western America.Edward Abbey (Introduction). Missoula: Mountain Press Publishing. pp. 160–171.ISBN0878421076.
