Chp 7: Enviro Philosophy Flashcards
When was the first bioluminescent plant engineered and what was it made from?
- 1980s
- Firefly (luciferase) gene and a tobacco specimen
Synthetic Biology
manipulation of organisms to promote novel features
Botanical Nanobionics
embedding microscopic particles into plant cells which then transform into vegetable light sources, natural infrared devices, and green sensors
Environmental Philosophy
- Emerged in the late 60s early 70s
- interrogates concepts of nature, human-environment interactions, and ecological problems such as climate change, biodiversity loss, etc.
- Believes transformation of our thinking about the natural world can promote positive environmental values, beliefs, and actions
Who is Richard Sylvan and what did he do?
- Australian Logician
- called for radical philosophical framework involving people’s relationship to the environment
- believed ecological issues cannot be addressed as long as the human is invested in purely human concerns
- decentralizing humankind
Species Bias (Routley)
- social and cultural prejudice against the more-than-human
- examines our moral duty to nature and the inherent worth of the environment
Moral Duty (Sylvan)
the responsibility to act in accordance with ethical obligations to the environment
Inherent Worth (Brennan and Lo)
the value of nature in its own right beyond its usefulness to humans
How does Zimmerman classify environmental philosophy?
- nature has inherent worth
- humans have moral duties to animals, plants, and ecosystems
How does Sarkar classify environmental philosophy?
Investigates questions of biodiversity, climate change, ecological integrity, sustainability, and non-human life in terms of moral duty, intrinsic value, human-nature reciprocity, etc.
Green Islam
- Adam as khalifa: guardian of the planet
- khalifa=stewardship, tawhid=unity, balance, and harmony, akhirah= the hereafter
- each human generation should maintain the well-being of land by avoiding resource depletion and biological degradation
- 1000+ religious boarding schools in Indonesia have implemented eco-friendly waste, water, and energy practices
- Eco-pesantren: reinterprets the mainstream Islamic ideas in terms of contemporary ecological sustainability
What are the 4 main specializations of environmental philosophy?
- environmental ethics
- radical ecology
- ecofeminism
- eco aesthetics
Environmental Ethics
- assigns moral status to nature and devises frameworks regarding what constitutes a life within limits of the biosphere
- discerns between good/right and bad/wrong environmental behaviors
- eco-virtue as a means to becoming ecologically good, conscious, and responsible
Radical Ecology(Sylvan)
only a fundamental social revolution/cultural transformation will help humans avert ecological disaster
Ecofeminism
- the natural world is a feminist concern
- the domination of women is closely linked to the domination of nature
- patriarchy as an ideology that separates sense of self from all life rather than connecting it
- Embodied materialism
Eco-aesthetics
- aesthetic perception of the natural world
- Hepburn (1963) said through direct experience the environmental spectator is transformed into an ecological agent
- meaning is independent of an artist/designer
- natural objects/landscapes are not intentionally framed/positioned
- cognitive (scientific knowledge=appreciation) versus non-cognitive (experience & imagination are enough for appreciation)
Eco-phenomenology
how human beings discover meaning through interaction with the environment
Australian Bush Fire Season 2019-2020
- 26 million acres burned
- 28 people killed
- 1 billion animals killed
What did Arme Naess coin in 1973?
shallow and deep ecology
Shallow Ecology (Naess 1973)
emphasizes short term changes within developed nations that are preoccupied with pollution and resource consumption
Deep Ecology (Naess 1973)
reconfigures Western worldviews
- highlights the inter-relatedness of ecosystems, biocentrism, diversity, and complexity
- recognizes the value of local economies and a decentralized government
- anti-class
Embodied Materialism
reasserts the value of compassion and empathy while cautioning against the Western dualisms of reason-emotion, cognition-feeling, and knowledge-embodiment that position the body perilously in opposition to the mind
Key Texts in Environmental Philosophy
- Walden by Thoreau (1910/1854)
- A Sand County Almanac by Leopold (1949)
- Silent Spring by Carson (1962)
- Tragedy of the Commons by Hardin (1968)
- The Population Bomb by Ehrlich (1968)
- Environmental Ethics (1979): The first academic journal in the field
Holmes Rolston III
- advocated for an ethical framework informed by the latest ecological understandings
- scrutinized the relationship between environmental ethics and ecological sciences arguing for a transdisciplinary approach
Hardin’s “Ethics of a Lifeboat” (1974)
- the idea that land available to each nation globally has a finite carrying capacity
- in order to preserve the safety margin of a given country’s lifeboat, no additional passengers (from other countries) should be allowed to board
- good governance avoids the lifeboat situation scenario entirely
Buddhist Environmental Ethics
- Buddhist doctrines do not set human beings in opposition to nature but instead highlight the capacity of humankind to act compassionately toward other living beings
- kamma (consequences), samsara (endless cyclicality), dukkha (bodily pain, psychological anguish, and unrealilzed desires)
Biospherical Egalitarianism (Naess)
the equal right to prosper across species and organisms
Ecosphy (Naess)
- philosophical framework in which ethical action is informed by Earth wisdom/ecological harmony
Anarcho-primitivism
- questions the purpose of civilization and forwards rewilding (returning people/places to their natural/feral state
- call for technology to be abandoned and group subsistence to be adopted
Ecology of Freedom (Bookchin, 1982)
- human domination over nature arises from social inequalities; the answer to this problem is social ecology
Social Ecology (Bookchin)
- proposes a free and harmonious society without hierarchies and domination focused on ecological principles
- concerned with ecological problems arising from deeply rooted social issues
Vegetal ethics
- grapples with plant focused questions of breeding technology, agricultural robots, genetically modified varieties, and lab experimentation
- plants as valuable sentient beings
Food ethics
questions of food consumption, policy, and systems
Ocean Fertilization
bolstering the ocean’s iron content to increase phytoplankton production to decrease CO2
Distributive Justice
equitable distribution of the advantages and disadvantages of climate policy
Anthropocene Feminism
draws attention to the ways feminism can provoke different perspectives on the Anthropocene
Chinese Yijing Aesthetics
- connects the emotional world to external objects and scenes
- promotes emotional identification with the more-than-human world in a time of global crisis
- Xiamen Island Ring Road greenbelt is an example
- Walking paths allow pedestrians to appreciate sculptures, exercise areas, and coastal habitats at close range and provide viable habitat for the many bird species that migrate through the area
