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