1. Environmental Ethics

2. 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.

3. 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’

4. 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

7. 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)

8. 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.

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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.

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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.

18. 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

19. 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