ch1 Flashcards
Culture – which influences our thinking through:
- Knowledge
- Beliefs
- Values
- Learned ways of life shared by a group of people
Culture is
the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts.
Worldview –
person’s or group’s beliefs about the meaning, purpose, operation and essence of the world.
- Knowledge
- Beliefs
- Values
- Learned ways of life shared by a group of people
another definition of worldview
The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world.
One’s Worldview is influenced by:
- Environmental ethics
- Classical economics and the environment
- Economic growth and sustainability
- Environmental and ecological economics
- Religion
Ethics is
•the study of good and bad, right and wrong.
Ethical Standards
criteria that help differentiate right from wrong.
Environmental Ethics
•- the study of ethical questions regarding human interactions with the environment
Culture and worldview affect
affect perception of the environment and environmental problems.
People with different Worldviews and Cultures may have different ……… and hence …………………………………
•values and hence, their actions toward the environment may differ.
•There are two possible types of ethicists:
- Relativists - Ethics should and do vary with social context.
- Universalists - Objective notions of right and wrong exist across all cultures and situations.
The roots of environmental ethics are
ancient.
The modern urge for environmental protection grew with problems spawned by
•the industrial revolution.
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to
new manufacturing processes
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840. This transition included going from
- hand production methods to machines,
- new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes,
- improved efficiency of water power,
- the increasing use of steam power,
- the development of machine tools and the rise of the factory system.
Anthropocentric
A human centered view of nature. Anything not providing positive benefit to people is considered of negligible value.
Biocentric
All life has ethical standing, and any actions taken consider the effects on all living things, or the biotic world in general. .
Ecocentric
Considers the integrity of ecological systems – not just individual animals (or species). Recognizes the need to preserve not just entities, but also their relationships with each other.
Economics studies
•how people use resources to provide goods and services in the face of variable supply and demand.
Ethics and economics
both deal with
•how we value and perceive our environment.
ethics and economics influence
our decisions and actions.
The root “eco” gave rise to both
ecology and economics
Adam Smith:
•Competition between people free to pursue their own economic self-interest will benefit society as a whole (assuming rule of law, private property, competitive markets).
•Adam Smith: Competition between people free to pursue their own economic self-interest will benefit society as a whole (assuming rule of law, private property, competitive markets).
(Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations in 1776 is usually considered to mark the beginning of classical economics)
•
This idea is a
pillar of free-market thought today
•Adam Smith: Competition between people free to pursue their own economic self-interest will benefit society as a whole (assuming rule of law, private property, competitive markets).
(Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations in 1776 is usually considered to mark the beginning of classical economics)
•
•This idea is a pillar of free-market thought today.
It is blamed by
•many for economic inequality and the source of environmental degradation.
An economic good or service can be defined as
anything that is scarce.
•An economic good or service can be defined as anything that is scarce.
Scarcity exists when
the demand for an economic good exceeds its supply.
Supply is
the amount of a good or service people are will to sell at a given price.
Demand is
•the amount of a good or service that consumers are willing and able to buy at a given price.
The price of a good or service is its
•monetary value.
What determines the price is
•the relationship between supply and demand.
The value assigned to natural resources is based on
perception of scarcity
Natural resources are
“goods” we get from our environment.
•“Ecosystem services” that nature performs for free include:
- Soil formation
- Water purification
- Climate regulation
- Pollination
- Nutrient cycling
- Waste treatment
- etc.
Gross national product (GNP) is
an estimate of total value of all the final products and services produced in a given period by the means of production owned by a country’s residents.
Conventional economics focuses on
•interactions between households and businesses; views the environment only as an external “factor of production.”
All of Earth’s resources are
limited.
•All of Earth’s resources are limited.
Even unlimitless ones are limiting if
•if we use them at a rate faster than they can renew.
e.g. Topsoil, fossil fuels.
Long-term effects are
discounted
The depletion of resources will happen in
the distant future
The costs of any transaction are experience only by
by the buyer and the seller.
•The costs of any transaction are experience only by the buyer and the seller.
Other members of society are
•not affected.
- The costs of any transaction are experience only by the buyer and the seller.
- Other members of society are not affected.
But pollution from a factory can
harm people living nearby
- The costs of any transaction are experience only by the buyer and the seller.
- Other members of society are not affected.
- But pollution from a factory can harm people living nearby.
The cost of cleaning up (stream) pollution might be born not by the buyer and seller, but by the
taxpayer
since it costs taxpayers to clean-up pollution (or in the case of G.E., put the fisherman out of business), this is a
negative external cost
growth is good (“ “)
growth paradigm
growth is good (“growth paradigm”)
make the overall
pie bigger even if some people get smaller slices than other
Economic growth is required to
keep employment high and maintain social order
economic growth = ………………………..
progress
the world economy is ……. times the size it was 50 years ago
7
resources are limited so nonstop growth is
not sustainable
economists disagree on whether economic growth is
sustainable
ecological economics
applies the principles of ecology and systems science to the analysis of economic systems
cornucopians -> ……………………………. -> ……………………………….
environmental economists -> ecological economics
environmental economists
modify the principles of neoclassical economics to address environmental challenges. Believes we can attain sustainability within our current systems
A cornucopian is
is a futurist who believes that continued progress and provision of material items for mankind can be met by similarly continued advances in technology
A cornucopian is a futurist who believes that continued progress and provision of material items for mankind can be met by similarly continued advances in technology. Fundamentally they believe that there is
enough matter and energy on the Earth to provide for the population of the world.
economies receive inputs from …………. that enable ……………….. to function
the environment that enable human society to function
…………………………………. accept that human economies depend on the environment
environmental and ecological economics
environmental and ecological economics accept that
human economics depend on the environment
ecosystem services support the
life that makes economics activity possible
