Week 5 Environmental Philosophy and Ethics

Question 1

Environmental Philosophy

Answer 1

• A branch of philosophy that is concerned with the natural environment and humans’ place within it.
  How we look at the world and conceptualize the environments

Question 2

Environmental ethics

Answer 2

• The discipline in environ. philosophy that studies the moral relationship of human beings to, and also the value and moral status of, the environment and its non-human contents.
  The moral principles that govern a person’s or group’s behavior

Question 3

Ethical Questions/decisions

Answer 3

Ethical Questions/ decisions
Ethical considerations are included in every decision that we make regarding our interaction with the environment.
Examples:
* Should humans continue to clear cut forests for the sake of human consumption?
* Should humans continue to make gasoline-powered vehicles?
* Is it ok to fly to Hawaii for a Christmas holiday?
* Is it ok to only pay $10 for a T-shirt made in China?
○ Whos interests must be considered?
○ Value questions with no obvious right or wrong–challenging trade offs
○ Fundamental to explaining where we are today–critical reflection is important for finding solutions

Question 4

Moral compass

Answer 4

• What are some of the authorities that have been providing us with ethical guidelines

Question 5

Judeo-Christian Tradition

Answer 5

• Rejection of animism: belief that every part of the environment has consciousness or spirit and therefore deserves deep respect
• Rejection of pantheism: deities of natural objects of processes; nature is sacred and needs to be respected.
• Wilderness is cursed: pastoral-type landscapes are holy
• The sacred is beyond this world: Earth is devalued in
  favour of heavily hopes
• Domination of nature: God commands humans to “fill the Earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing…” (Genesis)
• Judeo-Christian tradition believes that humans are separate from nature and superior to it
• Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) non-human animals are “ordered to man’s use”
• René Descartes (1596-1650) viewed non-human animals as machines

Question 6

Instrumental value versus intrinsic value

Answer 6

Intrinsic value
Instrumental value (aka use value):
The value an object has as a means to an end.
Examples:
- Teachers have instrumental value to students.
- Fruits have instrumental value for animals who feed on them.
Intrinsic value (aka existence value):
The value an object has “in itself” or “for its own sake”.
Examples:
- We normally say that a person has intrinsic value as a person. - It is not as clear whether a fruit by itself has value.

Question 7

Domination

Answer 7

Domination
* Nature exists solely to serve humans and only has instrumental value
* Nature exists as a store of resources for human’s use, and as a sink for human environmental impacts
* Environmental resources and extraction are only technical issues—question is how to extract rather than should we extract.
Challenges:
* Only values nature for what it provides to human
* Does not consider biophysical constraints of the planet
* Suggests we should only protect what is valuable to us

Question 8

Stewardship

Answer 8

Stewardship
* Nature is complicated; most resources are limit- ed or exhaustible and these limits are important.
* Humans rely on the existence of a functioning ecosystem
* Humans have a moral obligation to be stewards,
protectors, or managers of nature.
* To manage nature properly, humans must develop some understanding of the environment.
Challenges:
* Still strongly anthropocentric view
* Views humans as the owner or tenant of the planet
* Suggests that there is some hierarchy

Question 9

Conservation

Answer 9

• Views land and wilderness to have intrinsic value. Appreciation of things “natural, wild and free”
• Asserts that a lack of regard for the land has caused most of our environmental problems
• Involves protecting, preserving and managing the natural environment.
  Challenges:
• Still separates humans from nature (e.g., wilderness conservation challenges development)
• Does not account for a planet constantly in flux
  Difficult to do when many environmental problems do not have boundaries

Question 10

Deep Ecology

Answer 10

Deep ecology
* Humans are an integral part of the Earth system rather than separate from it.
* Deeply rooted in intrinsic value and interspecies equity
* The biospheric egalitarianism of deep ecology is in contrast to the “fight is against pollution and resource depletion” of shallow ecology.
* “Richness and diversity of life forms” is an inherent goal. Humans can only reduce this richness to satisfy “vital needs”.
* Promotes deep environmental consciousness and a spiritual connection with the environment.
Arne Næss
1912-2009
* Requires fundamental changes in the structure and values of our society.
Challenges:
* Criticized as overly utopian
* Some philosophers from developing nations consider views like conservation and deep ecology as “elitist”

Question 11

Indigenous Perspecitve

Answer 11

“Our lands and territories are at the core of our existence – we are the land and the land is us; we have a distinct spiritual and material relationship with our lands and territories and they are inextricably linked to our survival and to the preservation and further development of our knowledge systems and cultures, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystem management.”

Indigenous perspectives– care ethics
1. Importance of awareness of one’s place in a web of different connections (incl. humans, non-human beings and entities, collectives)
2. Understand moral connections as involving relationships of interdependence that motivate reciprocal responsibilities
3. Give value to certain skills and virtues (e.g., the wisdom of elders, attentiveness to the environment, indigenous stewardship practices)
4. Seek to restore people and communities who are wounded
5. Fight for political autonomy and the right to serve as responsible stewards of lands and the environmental quality on which both their physical and cultural survival depends on.

Question 12

Summary
* Beliefs and world views influence how we see the world, interpret information, and approach problems.
* Environmental ethics examines our world views of the
natural world and how we interact with it. - Considers values and aims to offer moral guidance
- Instrumental value versus intrinsic value
- Anthropocentric versus ecocentric
- Domination, stewardship, conservation, deep ecology, indigenous perspective
* Environmental ethics facilitates deep reflection and a jumping off point for how to deal with our environmental problems.