Values, Ethics, and the Use of Synthetic Pesticides in Agriculture

Abstract

This chapter is divided into four parts. In the first part I make some remarks aimed at reducing obscurities associated, by many people, with the concepts of value and obligation. In the second part I am concerned primarily to distinguish value judgments and ethical judgments. In addition I discuss the nature of ethics and the value of systematic investigation of ethical issues. In the third part I review several ethical theories in order to formulate some basic ethical principles which may be applied in considering our obligations in regard to the use of synthetic pesticides. Only in the fourth part do I directly address the question, “What are our moral obligations in regard to the use of synthetic pesticides in agriculture?” Some people, impatient with the preliminary discussions, may think that we should have gone directly to a consideration of that question. However, if others are to understand and critically evaluate the claims made in the fourth part, the preliminary material is necessary.