Environmental Ethics and Philosophy

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Environmental Ethics and Philosophy

• Chapter 2

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Outline

• Introduction
• Ethical Principles
• Values, Rights and Obligations
• Worldviews
• Environmental Justice
• Science and the Scientific Method
• Technology

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INTRODUCTION

• Ethics is a branch of
• Morals Distinction between right and wrong
• Values Ultimate worth of actions or things
• Environmental ethics deals with the moral
  relationships between humans and the surrounding
  world.

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Ethical Principles

• Universalists - Assert fundamental principles of
  ethics are universal, unchanging, and eternal.
• Relativists - Claim moral principles are always
  relative to a particular person, society, or
  situation.

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Ethical Principles

• Nihilists - Claim morality is arbitrary thus
  there is no reason to behave morally.
• Utilitarians - Believe an action is right that
  produces the greatest good for the greatest
  number of people.

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Modernism and Postmodernism

• Most of modern, Western worldview is based on
  Enlightenment period. Inevitable outcome of an
  understanding of the world would be moral
  progress and universal justice.
• Experiences of the 20th century have led to a
  cultural despair. From a postmodern perspective,
  our perception of nature is an ever-shifting,
  arbitrary social construction.

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Values, Rights, and Obligations

• Moral Agents - Beings capable of acting morally
  or immorally, and who can accept responsibility
  for their acts.
• Humans
• Moral Subjects - Beings who are not moral agents,
  but who have moral interests and can be treated
  rightly or wrongly.
• Children
• Moral Extensionism - Widening definition of who
  is considered ethically significant.
• Animal Rights

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Intrinsic and Instrumental Value

• Intrinsic (Inherent - Innate) - Worth or value
  simply because of existence.
• Humans
• Instrumental (Conferred) - Worth or value only
  because they are valued by someone who matters.
• Tools

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WORLDVIEWS

• Anthropocentric - Human-centered.
• Genesis 128
• Stewardship - Custodian of resources.
• Indigenous peoples
• Biocentricism - All living things have intrinsic
  value.
• Ecocentricism - Whole is more important than the
  parts.

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Ecofeminism

• Ecofeminists argue most philosophers came from a
  patriarchal system based on domination and
  duality.
• Contend domination, exploitation, and
  mistreatment of women, children, minorities, and
  nature are intimately connected and mutually
  reinforcing.

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ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

• Environmental Justice combines civil rights and
  environmental protection to demand a safe,
  healthy environment for all people.
• People of color around the world are subjected to
  a disproportionately high level of environmental
  health risks.

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Environmental Justice

• Toxic Colonialism - Targeting poor communities of
  color in poor areas / countries for waste
  disposal and / or experimentation.
• Native American Reservations
• Moving operations to countries where
  environmental regulations are lax.

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SCIENCE

• Science - Provides an orderly, methodical
  approach to investigating phenomena while
  suggesting testable explanations for those
  phenomena.
• Assumes the world is knowable, and that
  systematic investigations can yield meaningful
  insights.
• Parsimony - When two competing explanations
  appear equally plausible, accept the simpler one.

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Science

• Deductive Reasoning - Starts with a general
  principle and proceeds to a specific case.
• Inductive Reasoning - General principles are
  inferred from examination of specific cases.

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Scientific Theory
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Hypothesis vs. Theory

• Hypothesis - A provisional explanation that can
  be falsified by further investigation.
• When tests support hypothesis, it is only
  considered provisionally true.
• Scientific Theory - Hypothesis supported by
  multiple experiments and a majority of experts.
• Not casual everyday theory

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Descriptive vs. Interpretative Science

• Interpretative - Ideas and explanations tested
  indirectly by looking at historical evidence or
  natural experiments.
• Descriptive - In some cases it is impossible or
  unethical to perform deliberate experiments on
  organisms or environments, thus simply describing
  the ecology can be valuable.

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Paradigms

• Most research is based on commonly shared
  paradigms - models that provide a framework for
  interpreting results.
• Eventually, anomalies and contradictions of
  paradigms arise and build.
• Typically new generations of scholars challenge
  old paradigms and formulate new Hypotheses and
  Theories leading to new Paradigms.

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Technology

• For past two centuries, central tenet of Western
  culture has been a strong faith in progress.
• Technology allows mistakes to be made faster and
  on a larger scale than before.
• Appropriate Technology - Promotes machines and
  approaches suitable for local conditions and
  cultures.

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Summary

• Introduction
• Ethical Principles
• Values, Rights and Obligations
• Worldviews
• Environmental Justice
• Science and the Scientific Method
• Technology

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