Chapter 6 - Ethics, Economics, and Sustainable Development Flashcards
culture
the overall ensemble of knowledge, beliefs, values, and learned ways of life shared by a group of people
ethics
the academic study of good and bad, right and wrong. the term can also refer to a persons or groups set of moral principles or values
relativist
an ethicist who maintains the belief that ethics do and should vary with social context
ethical standard
a criterion that helps differentiate right from wrong
intrinsic (inherent) values
value ascribed to something for it intrinsic worth; the notion that the thing has a right to exist and is valuable for its own sake
worldview
a way of looking at the world that reflects a persons (or groups) beliefs about the meaning, purpose, operation and essence of the world
universalist
an ethicist who maintains the belief that their exist objective notions of right and wrong that hold across cultures and situations
instrumental value
value ascribed to something for the pragmatic benefits it brings us if we put it to use
environmental ethics
the application of ethical standards to environmental questions
anthropocentrism
a human-centered view our relationship with the environment
ecocentrism
a philosophy that considers actions in terms of their damage or benefits to the integrity of whole ecological systems, including both living and non-living things. for an ecocentrist, the well being of an individual is less important than the long-term well-being of of a larger integrated ecological system
transcendentalism
a philosophical movement that flourished in the u.s. in the 1840’s. transcendentalist writers such as Henery david Thoreau, Ralph walda Emerson, and Walt Whitman viewed nature as a manifestation of the divine, championed a spriritual approach to life, and critiqued societies focus on material goods
John Muir (1838-1914)
Scottish immigrant to the u.s. who eventually settled in California and made Yosemite valley his wilderness home. today he is strongly associated with the preservation ethic. he argued that naturre deserved protection for its own inherent values (a ecocentric argument) but also claimed that nature facilitated human happiness and fufillment (an anthropocentric argument)
Gifford Pinchot (1865-1946)
the forest professionally trained american forester, Pinchot helped establish the u.s. forest service. today he is the person most closely associated with conservation ethic
Ralph waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
american author, poet, and philosopher who espoused transcendentalism
Henery david Thoreu (1817-1862)
american transcendentalist author, poet, and philosopher. his book walden, recording his observations and thoughts while he lived at walden pond away from urban Massachusetts, remains a classic of american literature
Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
american poet who espoused transcendentalism
conservation ethic
an ethic holding that people should put natural resources to use but also have a responsibility to manage them wisely
preservation ethic
an ethic holding that we should protect the natural environment in a pristine, unaltered state
economy
a social system that converts resources into goods and services
good
a material commodity manufactured for and bought by individuals and businesses
service
work done for others as a form of buisness
substance economy
a survival economy, one in which people meet most or all of their daily needs directly from nature and do not purchase or trade for most of life’s necessities
capitalist market economy
an economy in which buyers and sellers interact to determine which goods and services to produce and how to distribute them
centrally planned economy
an economy in which a nations government determines how to allocate resources in a top-down manner. also called a “state socialist economy”
mixed economy
an economy that combines elements of a capitalist market economy and a centrally planned economy
Adam Smith (1723-1790)
a Scottish philosopher known today as the father of classical economics. he believed that when people are free to pursue their own economic self-interest in a competitive marketplace, the marketplace will behave as if guided by an invisible hand that ensures that their actions will benefit society as a whole
classical economics
founded by Adam Smith, the study of the behavior of buyers and sellers in a capitalist market economy. holds that individuals acting in their own self interest may benefit society, provided that their behavior is constrained by the rule of law and and by private property rights and operates within the competitive markets
neoclassical economics
a mainstream economic school of thought that explains market prices in terms of consumer preferences for units of particular commodities and that uses cost-benefit analysis
biocentralism
a philosophy that ascribes relative values to actions, entities, or properties on the basis of their effects on all living things or on the integrity of the biotic realm in general. the biocentrist evaluates an action in terms of its overall impact on living things, including - but not limited to - human beings
cost-benefit analysis
a method commonly used by neoclassical economists, in which estimated costs for a proposed action are totaled and then compared to the sum of benefits estimated to result from the action
external cost
a cost borne by someone not involved in an economic transaction. examples include harm to citizens from water or air pollution from nearby factories
discounting
a practice in neoclassical economics by which short-term costs and benefits are granted more importance than long term costs and benefits. future effects are thereby “discounted” under the notion that an impact in the future should count much less than the one present
economic growth
an increase in an economies activity - that is at is an increase in the production and consumption of goods and services
affluenza
term coined by social critics to describe the failure of material goods to bring happiness to people who have the financial means to afford them
economic development
improvement in the efficiency of production due o better technologies and approaches that allow us to produce more goods with fewer imput
cornucopian
a world-view (or person holding the world view) that we will find ways to make earths natural resources meet all of our needs indefinitely and that human integrity will see us through any difficulty , in greek mythology, cornucopia- literally “horn of plenty”- is the name for a magical goats horn that overflowed with grain, fruit, and flower
cassandra
a world-view (or person holding the world view) that predicts doom and disaster as a result of our environmental impacts. in greek mythology, cassandra was the princess of troy with the gift of prophecy, whose dire predictions were not belived
environmental economics
a developing school of economics that modifies the principles of neoclassical economics to address environmental challenges. most environmental economists believe that that we can attain sustainability within our current economic systems. whereas ecological economists call for revolution, environmental economics call for reform
non market value
a value that is not usually included in the price of a good or service
steady-state economy
an economy that does not grow or shrink but remains stable
ecological economics
a developing school of economics that applies to the principles of ecology and system thinking to the description and analysis of economics
herman daly
contemporary american ecological economist and well-known proponent of a steady-state economy
contingent valuation
a technique that uses surveys to determine how much people would be willing to pay to protect a resource or to restore it after damage has been done
gross domestic product (GDP)
the total monetary value of final goods and services produced in a country each year. GDP sees all economic activity, whether good or bad, and does not account for benefits such as volunteerism or for extreme costs such as environmental destruction or social upheaval
genuine progress indicator (GPI)
an economic indicator that attempts to differentiate between desirable and undesirable economic activity. the GPI accounts for benefits such as volunteering and for costs such as environmental degradation and social upheaval
full cost accounting (true cost accounting)
an accounting approach that attempts to summarize all costs and benefits by assigning monetary values to entities without market prices and then generally subtracting costs from benefits. examples include GPI and happy planet index
market failure
the failure of markets to take into account the environments positive effects on economies (for example, ecosystem services) or to reflect the negative effects of economics on the environment and thereby on the people (external costs)
ecolabelling
the practice of designating on product labels how the product was grown, harvested, or manufactured, so that consumers are aware of the processes involved and can judge which brands use more sustainable processes
socially responsible investing
investing companies that have met criteria for environmental or social sustainability
greenwashing
a public-relations effort by s corporation or institution to mislead customers or the public into thinking it is acting more sustainable than it actually is
triple bottom line
an approach to sustainability that attempts to meet environmental, economic, and social goals simultaneously
development
the use of natural resources for economic advancement (as opposed to simple substance or survival)
sustainable development
development that satisfies our current needs without compromising the future availability of natural capital or our future quality of life
millennium development goals
a program of targets for sustainable development set by the international community through the un at the turn of this century
