Environmental Ethics

Definition Ethics or moral philosophy is the branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct Environmental ethics is the discipline in philosophy that studies the moral relationship of human beings to, and also the value and moral status of, the environment and its non-human contents They are moral principles governing the human attitude towards the environment, and rules of conduct for environmental care and preservation.

Human Role in Environment Humans both the problem and solution for the environmental crisis Human values can play a great role in solving environmental issues Values can show a path to not exploit the environment beyond the limits Famous Gandhi quote - 'There is enough for everyone's need but not everyone’s greed’

Intrinsic & Instrumental value Instrumental value -- the value of things as means to further some other ends Intrinsic value - the value of things as ends in themselves regardless of whether they are also useful as means to other ends A certain wild plant may have instrumental value because it provides the ingredients for some medicine or as an aesthetic object for human observers. But if the plant also has some value in itself independently of its prospects for furthering some other ends such as human health, or the pleasure from aesthetic experience, then the plant also has intrinsic value

Environmental Ethics - History When environmental ethics emerged as a new sub-discipline of philosophy in the early 1970s, it did so by posing a challenge to traditional anthropocentrism The questioning and rethinking of the relationship of human beings with the natural environment over the last thirty years reflected an already widespread perception in the 1960s that the late twentieth century faced a human population explosion as well as a serious environmental crisis Among the work that drew attention to a sense of crisis was Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1963)

Types of Environmental Ethics Anthropocentrism is the idea that the earth and its resources exists for human consumption. People who hold this view believe that we ought to protect the earth for future generations. Anthropocentrism often focuses on fixing the problem of limited resources through the use of technology rather than a reduction in consumption. Biocentrism views animals as important beings. Stereotypically, biocentrics are against harming other life forms for their own ends - many of them are vegetarian’s or vegans Ecocentrism holds that humans are only one part of the complicated system that is the earth. Ecocentrism believes that everything has intrinsic value and emphasized the interconnectedness of all life.

Anthropocentrism Anthropocentrism is the position that humans are the most important or critical element in any given situation; that the human race must always be its own primary concern Western tradition shows bias for humans when considering environmental ethics Many argue that all environmental studies should include an assessment of the intrinsic value of non-human beings

Anthropocentrism/Homocentrism Homocentrism holds that only humans have intrinsic value For homocentrists, the environment only has value insofar as it is useful to us. The environment has no value of its own, only that which is derived from its value to humans What brings together ideas of the homocentric camp is the belief that humans and human interests have a privileged moral status and value higher than the environment

Biocentrism Biocentrism, on the other hand, holds that all natural things have intrinsic value The environment is seen as an end in itself, and not valued only as a means to human ends In the biocentric view, we have a moral duty to protect the environment and living things even when they do not affect our welfare or benefit our interests What sets the biocentrist apart from the homocentrist is the belief that humans are not inherently superior to other living things, and that human interests do not take precedence over the natural world.

Biocentrism…. Biocentrism in a political and ecological sense, is an ethical point of view that extends  inherent value  to all living things. Biocentric ethics calls for a rethinking of the relationship between humans and nature The four main pillars of a biocentric outlook are: Humans and all other species are members of Earth’s community. All species are part of a system of interdependence. All living organisms pursue their own "good" in their own ways. Human beings are not inherently superior to other living things

Ecocentrism/Holism People who ascribe to an ecocentric philosophy believe in the importance of an ecosystem as a whole They attribute equal importance to living and non-living components of ecosystems when making decisions regarding their treatment of the environment It is a holistic school of thought that sees little importance in individuals; ecocentrists are concerned only with how individuals influence ecosystems as a whole The primary difference between ecocentric and biocentric philosophies lies in their treatment of the abiotic environment

Ecocentrism…. The ontological belief denies that there are any existential divisions between human and non-human nature Ethical claim is for an equality of intrinsic value across human and non-human nature  It comprehends the Ecosphere as a Being that transcends in importance any one single species, including humans

Ethical Approaches: Marshall Alan Marshall developed a postmodern version of the Human– Nature relationship, one that throws into doubt the very concepts of 'Humanity' and 'Nature According to Marshall, three general ethical approaches have emerged over the last 40 years: Libertarian Extension, the Ecologic Extension and Conservation Ethics

Marshall – 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

Marshall-Ecologic Extension Ecologic extension places emphasis not on human rights but on the recognition of the fundamental interdependence of all biological (and some abiological) entities and their essential diversity Whereas 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.

Marshall- Conservation Ethics Conservation ethics is an extension of use-value into the non- human biological world It focuses only on the worth of the environment in terms of its utility or usefulness to humans It contrasts the intrinsic value ideas of 'deep ecology', hence is often referred to as 'shallow ecology', and generally 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 inter-generational considerations

Future of Environmental Ethics Greater the crisis more the urgency for EE Environmental ethics needs to be informed by the politics to ameliorate environmental problems The effectiveness of states and governments in “getting there” will affect the types of ethics that emerge For example, the Kyoto Protocol might be regarded as the first real global attempt to deal with the problem of climate change but caught up in politics