Environmental Ethics Flashcards
Learn applied ethical theories to environmental ethics
Islam
Stewards of the Earth, so will be judged for any wrong we do to it
Pope Francis
Laudato si: Integral ecology. Human and creation are interrelated
St Francis of Assisi
- > God communicates through the natural world
- > All creatures have telos and we ought to not destroy that
Environmental Virtue Ethics
A virtuous life is to flourish while taking care of the environment
Neo-Kantianism
Paul Taylor:
- > Animals and plants do not have moral rights, but they have legal rights
- > They therefore have rights to their ecosystem, which ought to not be destroyed by humans
St John Houghton (Dominion)
We ought to treat the environment with respect
Disadvantages of Christian Ethics
- > Do you take a dominion or stewardship approach
- > Do non-human things have the ability to flourish ?
- > The environment ought to have intrinsic value, not merely protected for the benefit of humanity
Disadvantages of existentialism
- > Assumes that man is abandoned (Sartre rejects this being a problem)
- > Only sentient beings have value - promotes an ‘anything goes’ mentality to plants
Church of England
- > Wants to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050
- > Shallow ecology: ‘the effects of climate change fall disproportionately on the poor’
- > Husbandry: ‘we have a serious obligation to care for all of creation’ (Vatican 1989)
Peter Singer
- > Moral status comes from sentience
- > Animals have moral rights so should protect animal welfare
- > Importance of long-term satisfaction: we should preserve world heritage sites
Advantages of existentialism
- > Does not hinge upon the transcendental
- > Relies on subjectivity, rather than objectivity
Case study of the dam - Utilitarianism
Singer: Building a dam has more benefits than costs (these being to the environment)
Mill: Environment is a higher pleasure so ought to be preserved
Bible: Dominion or Stewardship
‘Let [man] have dominion over the fish of the sea’ (Genesis 1:26)’
‘…guard and till the earth’ (Genesis 2:25)
Bentham
-> Animals are sentient beings, so accounted for in the hedonic calculus
Advantages of Christian Ethics
- > Consistent with Biblical teachings
- > Virtue Ethics support: Celia Deane-Drummond takes the virtue of “Sophia”(wisdom) to link creation, incarnation and redemption for the whole of the material universe.
Fletcher
- > Relativism/personalism: Treatment of the environment based on each situation
- > No absolute rights of the environment
- > Humans are superior to all other things (Christian roots)
Advantages of utilitarianism
-> Animals and humans have equal rights
Mill: Consistent with other beliefs
Kant
- > Humans are the only rational/conscious being, so not subject to the CI
- > Anthropocentric: Cruelty to animals is instrumentally wrong as can develop traits negative to humans. Nature is purposely, revealing autonomy and freedom. Harming the environment is thus irrational and immoral
- > Exploitation of the environment cannot be universalised (contradiction in nature)
Advantages of Virtue Ethics
- > Humans are superior
- > Focusses on the intent rather than the consequence
- > Consistent with conservative views on the environment
Modern Natural Law
- > Practical rationality: the reason for action is the basic goods inscribed in human nature
- > Finnis: This is freedom, peace and friendship
- > Davidson: Can be applied to non-human things, so they also have goods which needs to be respected
Scruton
- > Agrees with Aristotle
- > Animals should not be treated in a way that will tend humans to the vices
Buddhism/Hinduism
Importance of ahimsa: non-violence towards all things
Advantages with Kantian Ethics
- > Supports conservatism (shallow ecology)
- > Gives rights to animals
- > Absolutist (consistent theory, albeit unclear)
Sartre
- > The environment has no intrinsic value
- > Animals are a sentient being like humans. To do against them is to commit bad faith
Aristotle
- > Hierarchy in nature: vegetative/appetitive/rational
- > Look after the environment to benefit humans
- > Cultivate virtues in the way in which we treat the environment
Disadvantages of utilitarianism
- > Tyranny of the majority issues
- > Cost-benefit analysis issues
- > Plants have rights too (deep ecology)
Disadvantages of Virtue Ethics
- > It is possible for a virtuous person to do a bad thing
- > How are we to decide what virtues to apply
- > Aristotle’s notion of phronesis (practical wisdom) is impossible when considering the environment
- > Is Virtue Ethics merely cultural relativism?
Disadvantages of Situation Ethics
- > Impractical
- > Is our love more important than the love of animals
- > No consistency of an approach
- > Is it possible to treat the environment in a relative manner ? You would need an accurate assessment of facts
Disadvantages with Kantian Ethics
Regan: Ethical theory only applies to conscious beings, but what about humans with different level of consciousness? Should they only be treated with instrumental value ?
- > Is the approach too theoretical and not practical enough ? What are we supposed to do ?
- > It is absolutist
Husbandry
We should care for the environment as God cares for us
Mill
-> Higher pleasure: enjoy the natural world
Advantages of Situation Ethics
- > Sweeping generalisations may promote more harm than good
- > Exercising compassion for humans over nature seems consistent with the view of Dominion (largely rejected)
Heidegger
- > Beings are central
- > Phenomenologist: The only things we know come from our experience
- > Humans have come to view nature as a giant resource to be exploited
