Kritik der ökologischen Vernunft

Abstract For the socio-ecological transformation to gain social acceptance, it is necessary to keep the threshold for entry as low as possible. On the one hand, social conditions must undergo fundamental change, but on the other hand, little should change. Hegel’s critique of reason can help resolve this dilemma. According to Hegel, modern rationalisation processes lead to social contradictions and are at the same time capable of resolving these contradictions. In the spirit of a critique of ecological reason, Hegel’s critique of reason should be used to explain social change towards sustainability. For this purpose, the article will focus on property rights. It argues that property rights can both drive ecological crises and resolve them if their own normative foundations are turned against them.