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Environmental ethics is the part of environmental philosophy which considers the ethical relationship between human beings and the natural environment. Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life In Philosophy, meta-ethics (sometimes called "analytic ethics" is the branch of Ethics that seeks to understand the nature of ethical properties Normative ethics is the branch of philosophical Ethics that investigates the set of questions that arise when we think about the question “how ought one act Descriptive ethics, also known as comparative ethics is the study of people's beliefs about Morality. Consequentialism refers to those moral theories which hold that the consequences of a particular action form the basis for any valid moral judgment about that action Deontological ethics or deontology (from Greek grc δέον deon, "obligation duty" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Virtue theory is a branch of Moral philosophy that emphasizes character rather than rules or consequences as the key element of ethical thinking The ethics of care is a normative ethical theory; that is a theory about what makes actions right or wrong In Religion, Ethics, and Philosophy, the phrase good and evil refers to the location of objects desires and Behaviors on a two-way Morality (from the Latin la moralitas "manner character proper behavior" has three principal meanings Bioethics is the philosophical study of the ethical controversies brought about by advances in Biology and Medicine. Cyberethics is a branch of Ethics that studies ethical dilemma brought on by the emergence of digital technologies Medical ethics is primarily a field of Applied ethics, the study of Moral values and judgments as they apply to Medicine. Engineering ethics is the field of Applied ethics which examines and sets standards for Engineers ' obligations to the public, their clients employers and Human rights refers to the "basic Rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled "Animal liberation" redirects here for other uses see Animal liberation (disambiguation. Legal ethics refers to an Ethical code governing the conduct of people engaged in the Practice of law. Media ethics is the subdivision of Applied ethics dealing with the specific ethical principles and standards of media, including Broadcast media, Film Business ethics is a form of Applied ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment Fundamental issues in marketing ethics Frameworks of analysis for marketing ethics Possible frameworks Value -oriented framework analyzing ethical Ethics is a branch of Philosophy dealing with right and wrong in human behavior Just War theory is a Doctrine of military ethics of Roman philosophical and Catholic origin studied by moral Theologians Ethicists and international JUSTICE is a Human rights and law reform organisation based in the United Kingdom. Philosophic or ethic value is a property of objects, including Physical objects as well as Abstract objects (e Duty (from "due" that which is owing O Fr deu did past participle of devoir Lat Virtue ( Latin virtus; Greek) is moral Excellence. Personal virtues are characteristics valued as promoting individual Egalitarianism (derived from the French word égal, meaning equal) is a political doctrine that holds that all people should be treated as equals and have Freedom, or the idea of being free is a broad concept that Trust is a relationship of reliance A trusted party is presumed to seek to fulfill policies, ethical codes Law and their previous promises The question of free will Consent as a term of jurisprudence is a possible defence (an Excuse or justification against civil or criminal liability Moral responsibility can refer to two different but related things Confucius ( lit " Master Kung " September 28, 551 BC - 479 BC) was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher Life Mencius also known by his birth name Meng Ke or Ko, was born in the State of Zou (simp Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. David Hume (26 April 1711 25 August 1776 Scottish Philosopher, Economist, and Historian is an important figure in Western philosophy Immanuel Kant (ɪmanuəl kant 22 April 1724 12 February 1804 was an 18th-century German Philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg Jeremy Bentham ( IPA: or) (15 February 1748&ndash6 June 1832 was an English Jurist, Philosopher, and legal and Social reformer John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 &ndash 8 May 1873 British Philosopher, political economist, civil servant and Member of Parliament, was an influential Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (ˈsœːɐn ˈkʰiɐ̯kəˌɡ̊ɒˀ in Danish Anglicized as;) Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15 1844 August 25 1900 ( was a nineteenth-century German philosopher and classical philologist Richard Mervyn Hare ( 21 March 1919 &ndash 29 January 2002) was an English moral philosopher who held the post of White's John Rawls ( February 21, 1921 &ndash November 24, 2002) was an American Philosopher, a Professor of Robert Nozick ( November 16, 1938 &ndash January 23, 2002) was an American Philosopher and Pellegrino University This list of Ethics topics puts articles relevant to well-known ethical (right and wrong good and bad debates and decisions in one place - including practical problems long List of ethicists including religious or political figures recognized by those outside their tradition as having made major contributions to ideas about Ethics, or raised major Environmental philosophy is a branch of Philosophy that is concerned with the Natural environment and our place within it Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus See also Nature The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, is a terminology that is comprised of all living and It exerts influence on a large range of disciplines including law, sociology, theology, economics, ecology and geography. Environmental law is a complex and interlocking body of Statutes, Common law, Treaties, conventions Regulations and policies which very Environmental sociology is typically defined as the sociological study of societal-environmental interactions although this definition immediately presents the perhaps Ecotheology is a form of Constructive theology that focuses on the interrelationships of Religion and Nature, particularly in the light of environmental Ecological economics is a Transdisciplinary field of academic research within Economics that aims to address the interdependence between human economies and natural Ecology (from Greek grc οἶκος oikos, "house(hold" and grc -λογία -logia) is the scientific study of Environmental geography is the branch of Geography that describes the spatial aspects of interactions between humans and the natural world
Environmental ethics is properly but a sub-section of environmental philosophy, which includes environmental aesthetics, environmental theology, and all the other branches of philosophical investigation (e. Environmental philosophy is a branch of Philosophy that is concerned with the Natural environment and our place within it Ecotheology is a form of Constructive theology that focuses on the interrelationships of Religion and Nature, particularly in the light of environmental g. , epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of science, etc). Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, "knowledge" + λόγος, " Logos " or theory of knowledge Metaphysics is the branch of Philosophy investigating principles of reality transcending those of any particular science Philosophy of science is the study of assumptions foundations and implications of Science.
There are many ethical decisions that human beings make with respect to the environment. For example:
- Should we continue to clear cut forests for the sake of human consumption?
- Should we continue to make gasoline powered vehicles, depleting fossil fuel resources while the technology exists to create zero-emission vehicles?
- What environmental obligations do we need to keep for future generations?
- Is it right for humans to knowingly cause the extinction of a species for the (perceived or real) convenience of humanity?
The academic field of environmental ethics grew up in response to the work of scientists such as Rachel Carson and events such as the first Earth Day in 1970, when environmentalists started urging philosophers to consider the philosophical aspects of environmental problems. Clearcutting or clearfelling is a Forestry / Logging practice in which the clear majority of all trees in a forest sector are cut down The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the Combustion of Fuel and an Oxidizer (typically air occurs in a confined space called a Fossil fuels or mineral fuels are fossil source Fuels that is Hydrocarbons found within the top layer of the Earth’s crust. A zero-emissions vehicle, or ZEV is a vehicle itself that produces no Emissions or Pollution from the vehicle when stationary or operating In Biology and Ecology, extinction is the cessation of existence of a Species or group of taxa. Rachel Louise Carson (May 27 1907 – April 14 1964 was an American marine biologist and Nature writer whose writings are credited with advancing the global Earth Day is one of two Observances both held annually during spring in the Northern hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern hemisphere. Two papers published in Science had a crucial impact: Lynn White's "The Historical Roots of our Ecologic Crisis" (March 1967)[1] and Garrett Hardin's "The Tragedy of the Commons" (December 1968). Lynn Townsend White Jr ( April 29 1907 – March 30 1987) was a professor of medieval History at Princeton, Garrett James Hardin ( April 21, 1915 &ndash September 14, 2003) was a leading and controversial Ecologist from Dallas [2] Also influential was an essay in Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac, "The Land Ethic," in which Leopold explicitly claimed that the roots of the ecological crisis were philosophical (1949). Aldo Starker Leopold ( January 11, 1887 – April 21, 1948) was an American Ecologist, Forester and Environmentalist A Sand County Almanac is a 1949 non-fiction book written by American Ecologist and Environmentalist Aldo Leopold. [3]
The first international academic journals in this field emerged from North America in the late 1970s and early 1980s – the US-based journal, Environmental Ethics in 1979 and the Canadian based journal The Trumpeter: Journal of Ecosophy in 1983. Environmental ethics is the part of Environmental philosophy which considers the ethical relationship between Human beings and the Natural environment The first British based journal of this kind, Environmental Values, was launched in 1992. Environmental Values ( EV) is a Peer-reviewed journal of Environmental ethics, Ecological economics and applied philosophy published
Contents |
Marshall's Divisions of Environmental Ethics
In the Journal of Applied Philosophy, Alan Marshall relates the commonly-accepted idea of a natural ecological balance between the animate (living entities) and the inanimate (non-living entities) that existed for centuries (1993). Journal of Applied Philosophy is edited by Alan Carter ( University of Glasgow) and Suzanne Uniacke ( University of Hull) [4] For Marshall, as with many other environmental thinkers, the rapid industrialization of the last 300 years has led to a major imbalance. Today growing concerns about global warming underline the general acceptance that environmental preservation is of vital importance. However, it is the grounds upon which one justifies the argument for or against preservation that is the subject of ethical debate, and this invariably includes a personal stance on non-human animal and non-animal rights.
There have been many attempts to categorize the different attempts to justify the importance of the preservation of the environment. Alan Marshall and Michael Smith are two recent examples of this, as cited by Peter Vardy in "The Puzzle of Ethics". Dr Peter Vardy (born 1945 is a British Academic, Philosopher, Theologian and Author. [5] For Carterl, three general ethical approaches have emerged over the last 20 years. He uses the following terms to describe them: Libertarian Extension, the Ecologic Extension and Conservation Ethics.
(For more on Marshall's environmental ethics, see also: A. Marshall, 2002, The Unity of Nature, Imperial College Press: London. Alan Marshall is currently at Curtin University of Technology. Curtin University of Technology is a University with its main campus at Bentley, southeast of Perth, the capital of Western Australia.
Libertarian extension
Marshall’s Libertarian extension echoes a civil liberty approach (i. e. a commitment to extend equal rights to all members of a community). In environmentalism, though, the community is generally thought to consist of non-humans as well as humans.
Andrew Brennan was an advocate of ecologic humanism (eco-humanism), the argument that all ontological entities, animate and in-animate, can be given ethical worth purely on the basis that they exist. The work of Arne Næss and his collaborator Sessions also falls under the libertarian extension, although they preferred the term "deep ecology. Arne Dekke Eide Næss (born January 27, 1912) is widely regarded as the foremost Norwegian Philosopher of the 20th century and is the founder Deep ecology is a recent branch of ecological Philosophy ( Ecosophy) that considers Humankind an integral part of its environment. " Deep ecology is the argument for the intrinsic value or inherent worth of the environment – the view that it is valuable in itself. Their argument, incidentally, falls under both the libertarian extension and the ecologic extension.
Peter Singer's work can be categorized under Carter's ecologic extension. Peter Albert David Singer (born July 6, 1946 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is an Australian philosopher. He reasoned that the "expanding circle of moral worth" should be redrawn to include the rights of non-human animals, and to not do so would be guilty of speciesism. Speciesism involves assigning different values or rights to beings on the basis of their Species membership Singer found it difficult to accept the argument from intrinsic worth of a-biotic or "non-sentient" (non-conscious) entities, and concluded in his first edition of "Practical Ethics" that they should not be included in the expanding circle of moral worth. [6] This approach is essentially then, bio-centric. However, in a later edition of "Practical Ethics" after the work of Naess and Sessions, Singer admits that, although unconvinced by deep ecology, the argument from intrinsic value of non-sentient entities is plausible, but at best problematic. We shall see later that Singer actually advocated a humanist ethic. . . . .
Ecologic extension
Alan Marshall's ecologic extension places emphasis not on human rights but on the recognition of the fundamental interdependence of all biological and abiological entities and their essential diversity. Where as Libertarian Extension can be thought of as flowing from a political reflection of the natural world, Ecologic Extension is best thought of as a scientific reflection of the natural world. Ecological Extension is roughly the same classification of Smith’s eco-holism, and it argues for the intrinsic value inherent in collective ecological entities like ecosystems or the global environment as a whole entity.
This category includes James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis; the theory that the planet earth alters its geo-physiological structure over time in order to ensure the continuation of an equilibrium of evolving organic and inorganic matter. The Gaia hypothesis is an ecological Hypothesis proposing that the Biosphere and the physical components of the Earth ( Atmosphere The planet is characterized as a unified, holistic entity with ethical worth of which the human race is of no particular significance in the long run. Distinguish from the suffix -holism, which describes addictions
Conservation ethics
Marshall's conservation ethics looks only at the worth of the environment in terms of its utility or usefulness to humans. It is the opposite of deep ecology, hence is often referred to as shallow ecology, and argues for the preservation of the environment on the basis that it has extrinsic value – instrumental to the welfare of human beings. Conservation is therefore a means to an end and purely concerned with mankind and intergenerational considerations. It could be argued that it is this ethic that formed the underlying arguments proposed by Governments at the Kyoto summit in 1997 and three agreements reached in Rio in 1992. The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the international Framework Convention on Climate Change with the objective of reducing Greenhouse gases in an effort Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar)
Humanist theories
Following the bio-centric and eco-holist theory distinctions, Michael Smith further classifies Humanist theories as those that require a set of criteria for moral status and ethical worth, such as sentience. This applies to the work of Peter Singer who advocated a hierarchy of value similar to the one devised by Aristotle which relies on the ability to reason. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. This was Singer's solution to the problem that arises when attempting to determine the interests of a non-sentient entity such as a garden weed.
Singer also advocated the preservation of "world heritage sites," unspoilt parts of the world that acquire a "scarcity value" as they diminish over time. Their preservation is a bequest for future generations as they have been inherited from our ancestors and should be passed down to future generations so they can have the opportunity to decide whether to enjoy unspoilt countryside or an entirely urban landscape. A good example of a world heritage site would be the tropical rainforest, a very specialist ecosystem or climatic climax vegetation that has taken centuries to evolve. Clearing the rainforest for farmland often fails due to soil conditions, and once destroyed can never be replaced.
Anthropocentrism
Anthropocentrism simply places humans at the centre of the universe; the human race must always be its own primary concern. Anthropocentrism (from Greek άνθρωπος anthropos, "human being" and κέντρον kentron, "center" Anthropos (the term Therefore, everything else in existence should be evaluated in terms of its utility for us.
What Anthropocentric theories do not allow for is the fact that a system of ethics formulated from a human perspective may not be entirely accurate; humans are not necessarily the centre of reality. The philosopher Baruch Spinoza argued that we tend to assess things wrongly in terms of their usefulness to us. Baruch or Benedict de Spinoza (ברוך שפינוזה Bento de Espinosa Benedictus de Spinoza ( November 24, 1632 – February 21, Spinoza reasoned that if we were to look at things objectively we would discover that everything in the universe has a unique value. Likewise, it is possible that a human-centred or anthropocentric/androcentric ethic is not an accurate depiction of reality, and there is a bigger picture that we may or may not be able to understand from a human perspective.
Peter Vardy distinguished between two types of anthropocentrism. Dr Peter Vardy (born 1945 is a British Academic, Philosopher, Theologian and Author. A strong thesis anthropocentric ethic argues that humans are at the center of reality and it is right for them to be so. Weak anthropocentrism, however, argues that reality can only be interpreted from a human point of view, thus humans have to be at the centre of reality as they see it.
Status of the Field
Environmental ethics became a subject of sustained academic philosophic reflection in the 1970s. Throughout the 1980s it remained marginalized within the discipline of philosophy, attracting the attention of a fairly small group of thinkers spread across the English speaking world.
Only after 1990 did the field gain institutional recognition at programs such as Colorado State, the University of Montana, Bowling Green State, and the University of North Texas. In 1991, Schumacher College of Dartington, England, was founded and now provides an MSc in Holistic Science.
These programs began to offer a masters degree with a specialty in environmental ethics/philosophy. Beginning in 2005 the Dept of Philosophy and Religion Studies at the University of North Texas offered a PhD program with a concentration in environmental ethics/philosophy.
References
- ^ White, Lynn (March 1967). "The Historical Roots of our Ecologic Crisis". Science.
- ^ Hardin, Garrett (December 1968). "The Tragedy of the Commons". Science.
- ^ Leopold, Aldo (1949). "The Land Ethic", A Sand County Almanac.
- ^ Marshall, Alan (1993). "Unknown title". Journal of Applied Philosophy.
- ^ Vardy, Peter. The Puzzle of Ethics.
- ^ Singer, Peter. Practical Ethics, 1.
See also
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External links
- Bioethics Literature Database
- Thesaurus Ethics in the Life Sciences
- EnviroLink Library: Environmental Ethics - online resource for environmental ethics information
- EnviroLink Forum - Environmental Ethics Discussion/Debate
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Center for Environmental Philosophy
- UNT Dept of Philosophy
- Penn State University on Environmental Ethics
Dictionary
environmental ethics
-noun
- (ethics) The branch of ethics that examines questions of moral right and wrong relating to the management, protection, or endangerment of the natural environment.
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