1.1 environmental value systems

Question 1

what is an EVS?

Answer 1

• paradigm through which we view the environment
• the way we understand, value, and relate to the natural world around us

Question 2

inputs of EVS

Answer 2

• things that affect our opinions, the decisions we make, and how we live our lives
• culture, education, science, media etc

Question 3

processes of EVS’

Answer 3

• things that might affect the way we process information about the environment
• political views, religion, economic needs, trust in science, aesthetic preferences

Question 4

outputs of EVS’

Answer 4

• how our EVS may impact our beliefs and behaviors
• personal/economic behaviors, political beliefs, and actions

Question 5

ecocentrism

Answer 5

• nature-centred view
• proposes self-reliance and minimal disturbance of natural processes, ensuring sustainability

Question 6

anthropocentrism

Answer 6

• people-centered view
• people manage their environment and themselves (doing things to the environment based on human needs)

Question 7

technocentrism

Answer 7

• technology will provide solutions to all problems
• science will find alternative resources

Question 8

instrumental and intrinsic value

Answer 8

Instrumental: something of value because it does or provides something of value
- e.g. buffalos are valuable because we can eat their meat and sell their skins, trees are valuable because we can use the wood for fuel and manufacturing, etc.
Intrinsic: the natural world is valuable because it just is
- e.g., we shouldn’t catch all of the fish not because they’ll be no more to catch in the future, but because the fish themselves have a right to exist

Question 9

what helped degrade the environment?

Answer 9

modernizing industrial societies and rapid population growth –> post-modern times we didn’t have the tools to do it as fas

Question 10

creation of Yellowstone National Park and why it was important in the development of the environmental movement

Answer 10

• 1872
• preservation of natural beauty
• highlighted the value of preserving natural landscapes for future generations, rather than exploiting them for short-term economic gain

Question 11

how EVS’ will vary between cultures and over time

Answer 11

• traditional Japanese culture has a strong appreciation for nature, reflected in practices like cherry blossom viewing and garden design
• China is known for rapid industrialization and urbanization

Question 12

deep ecologist and the cornucopian

Answer 12

the extremes of ecocentrics and technocentrics