Field Of Environmental Ethics Research Articles

Whitehead's Ethics: Fill in the Blanks

Abstract The recent publication of the stenographer's transcript of Whitehead's guest lecture on “social ethics” has shed new light on the relation between his metaphysics and ethics. Instead of including ethics in his philosophy, Whitehead treats it as a distinct, specialized science that does not share in the universality of metaphysics. The present article argues that an analysis of his lecture shows that a nonindividualist Whiteheadian ethics is possible without rupturing the coherence of Whitehead's system or contradicting the ontological or subjectivist principle. As part of a larger transition in Whitehead's thinking during the years 1925–1927, he reformulates the notion of the environment as inheritance and is therefore able to pose the question of the endurance of values at the level of society, which is the purview of ethics. Reconstructing the metaphysical background may provide a “stimulus to the imagination” for ethical debates today, especially in the field of environmental ethics.

Wakefield's harmful dysfunction analysis of disorder and the problem of defining harm to nonsentient organisms.

This paper criticizes Jerome Wakefield's harmful dysfunction analysis (HDA) of disorder by arguing that the conceptual linkage it establishes between the medical concepts of health and disorder and the prudential notions of well-being and harm makes the account inapplicable to nonsentient organisms, such as plants, fungi, and many invertebrate animals. Drawing on a previous formulation of this criticism by Christopher Boorse, and noting that Wakefield could avoid it if he adopted a partly biofunction-based account of interests like that often advocated in the field of environmental ethics, I argue that integrating such an account of interests into the HDA wouldgenerate serious concerns. Specifically, it would make dysfunction sufficient for disorder and so reestablish between dysfunction and disorder precisely the kind of sufficiency relation that harm-requiring accounts of disorder strive to avoid; blur the line between the HDA's dysfunction and harm components and, in so doing, deprive the HDA of its alleged main advantage over monistic dysfunction-based accounts of disorders like Boorse's; and tie the HDA to an understanding of harm that is in itself problematic. I argue that these three concerns, and the dilemmas they generate, rob the HDA of much of its prima facie appeal, ultimately indicating that a satisfactory account of disorder should most likely eschew all references to prudential notions of well-being and harm.

Environmental Ethics: The State of the Question

AbstractEnvironmental ethics, as an academic field, was born out of professional philosophers' frustrations with anthropocentrism. In particular, philosophers such as Richard Sylvan and Holmes Rolston III found that canonical Western philosophy overlooked important questions regarding human relations to nonhuman animals and the broader world. Because many other traditions attend more closely to these relations, it is helpful to contextualize the initial development of academic environmental ethics as a critical response to a particular kind of deficiency characteristic of the Western tradition. In recent decades, the field has grown and broadened, and a more pluralistic, interdisciplinary, intercultural, and intersectional environmental ethics is emerging. This article traces developments in the field of environmental ethics during the last fifty years, beginning with discussions of the value of nature, deep ecology, the land ethic, environmental virtue ethics, and environmental pragmatism. Next, I turn to approaches that integrate social and environmental concerns through lenses that consider power dynamics and challenge relations of domination and oppression, bringing into focus questions of environmental and ecological justice. The final section considers some of the distinctive challenges associated with what some have dubbed “the Anthropocene,” noting that the nature and designation of this epoch remain contested.

Etyka roślin. Wiedza, troska i stawanie się z Innymi

Autorka domaga się etyki roślin uwrażliwionej na ich Inność. Przedstawia główne stanowiska w obrębie etyki środowiskowej, koncentrując się na postulatach przekroczenia pozycji ekstensjonistycznych; odpowiada na pytania o to, w jaki sposób roślina wyłania się w materialno-dyskursywnych procesach i w jaki sposób zostaje wpisana w reżimy biopolityczne; przedstawia ujęcia rośl-inności uwzględniające specyfikę rośliny jako istoty procesualnej (Houle) i otwartej (Pouteau). Autorka upomina się o etykę roślin pojmowaną jako oparta na wiedzy etyka troski o Innego uwikłanego w wielorakie materialne i ucieleśnione procesy współ-stawania się.

The Monsters of Nature: Representation of Environmental Ethics in Cinema

This article asks the question: how can one understand the kinds of environmental ethics represented in film? It argues that this can be done by analyzing films through the lens of various central themes in the field of environmental ethics. This study demonstrates this argument through a comparative case study approach. The two cases are <em>Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind</em>, a 1984 animated film directed by Hayao Miyazaki, and <em>Missing Link</em>, a 2019 animated film directed by Chris Butler. The stories of both films center on the relationship between humans and non-human species that are considered monsters. <em>Missing Link</em> represents an anthropocentric (human-centered) environmental ethics, one that only applies instrumental value to nature as it serves and relates to human beings. Conversely, <em>Nausicaä</em> represents non-anthropocentric environmental ethics that challenges the common human-centered perception of nature and advocates for the recognition of its intrinsic value. This study argues that even though the representation of non-anthropocentric environmental ethics in world cinema is not unheard of, the mainstream commercial film industry today represents and labels anthropocentric environmental ethics as progressive.

Experiences of Deep Ecological Thinking in African Traditional Environmental Thought: A Philosophical Reflection in Perspective

The logic of relational view as an ethic of maintaining balance of interaction between human beings and the rest of nature is central to both deep ecological worldview and African traditional environmental knowledge. It is argued in this article that relational view is an overseen/unrecognized depiction of resemblance between African Traditional Environmental Knowledge and deep ecological thinking first and for most in terms of the way they approach ‘ontology of live and let others live.’ Hence, their similarity in this respect rests on the fact that both affirms the inevitable logic of relations between humans and non-humans from which important scholarships would be drawn and exchanged with practitioners in the field of environmental ethics. Owing to this, the founder of Deep Ecology (DE) Arne Naess considers indigenous knowledge (with particular emphasis to the Eastern, Asian ethical tradition) as fundamental premises for any enlightened environmental thinking. Contrary to this deep ecological claim within indigenous knowledge, I argue that, very little or probably no attention is given to the similar contribution of ATEK to an ecologically friendly system of thought such as deep ecology in particular and to the whole spectrum of environmental ethics in general. Hence, this article aims at examining elements of deep ecological thinking in ATEK with particular focus on relational view (nature-relatedness). This article is also guided by Bryan Norton’s Convergence Hypothesis theory (CHT) and concludes that ATEKs have attributes that can be seen as enlightened part of environmental ethics as has been done to the Asian, Australian, Red Indian traditional environmental thoughts. Keywords: African, Traditional, Environment, Knowledge, Deep Ecology, Convergence. DOI : 10.7176/JPCR/45-01 Publication date :October 31 st 2019

Environmental Ethics: Anthropocentric Chauvinism as Seen in Western Ethical Theories

The first ethical dogmas are imparted by parents and elders; however societies strongly believe only the documented proofs. So their ideas are attributed as document forms for historical evidences in philosophical view. These shreds of evidence have their origin from Ancient Greek Western ethical theories, and they consist of clever advices on how to live happily, to avoid unnecessary troubles, and to gain progress in one’s career. It is also helpful for rulers to judge people and treat them impartially. Unfortunately, these western ethical theories have eventually developed as more anthropocentric, and humans have started cultivating a chauvinistic attitude towards both nonhumans and natural resources or environment. Anthropocentrism plays a crucial role in the field of environmental ethics and environmental philosophy. This paper mainly deals with environmental ethics, which is the human ethical liaison between people and the natural world and the sort of opinion people create about the environment based on this relationship. Further it analyses how western ethical theories (misinterpretation of biblical teaching and applied normative ethics utilitarianism, Kantian ethics, and Aristotle’s virtue ethics) have given importance to human intrinsic values and how this anthropocentric chauvinism of the western ethical theories is the root of our present environmental crisis. It also proves that we are facing global crisis today not because how the ecosystems function but rather because of the immoral functioning of our ethical system.

Management of Environmental Protection and Sustainability in the Islamic Revolution

Conservation of environmental resources and divine merits does not mean the absence of exploitation or the minimal use of it, but to use it optimally and seamlessly. Therefore, awareness and education in the field of environmental ethics can have a spiritual guarantee in the light of faith and piety; considering the religious teachings and the experiences of the executives and officials of the Islamic Revolution that become more colorful topics such as environmental justice, environmental ethics, environmental degradation, health and optimal consumption. The expansion of morality is considered to be in the context of human-environmental relations as a revolutionary opportunity and an environmental imperative. In fact, the interests of man are in balance with the interests of other beings; as a result, there are solutions to protect the inhumane community against human harm. In this project, we used of library methods, review and integration on the basis of articles and environmental studies. The results of this study indicate that there is a relationship between religious beliefs and revolutionary approaches to the environment and environmental ethics. The mentioned verses and narratives, the leadership’s recommendations all emphasize on environmental protection; and authorities have done this knowledge and information in the best way to raise the level of education. The results of the research show the upward trend in the environment after the Islamic Revolution in the process of approving and drafting laws.

Ética ambiental ocidental e os direitos da natureza. Contribuições e limites para uma ética socioambiental na América Latina

Proponho contribuir na formulação de perspectivas ético políticas que conciliem critérios de equidade social com a expansão da consideração moral para seres vivos não humanos. Esta conciliação tem sido difícil entre analistas e atores ambientais ocidentais, na medida em que respondem a perspectivas teórico-epistemológicas que, via de regra, afirmam formas de valor intrínseco da natureza sem se preocupar com a equidade social ou defendem direitos sociais com base em premissas que carregam vieses antropocêntricos. Realizo uma breve apresentação de diversas abordagens existentes no campo da ética ambiental e da justiça ambiental, incluindo entre elas a perspectiva latino-americana dos direitos da natureza e busco apontar contribuições e lacunas para o debate colocado. Isto posto, sinalizo que uma ética socioambiental que concilie humanos e não humanos deverá ser intercultural.

ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS AND SUSTAINABLE TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT. AN ANALYSIS FROM THE SPECIESISM CATEGORY

Abstract The article proposes ways to relate discussions held at the field of Environmental Ethics with analysis about the Sustainable Territorial Development. For this, a summary discussion of this field is presented, emphasizing the category of Speciesism and the problem of moral consideration of animals. This approach aims to show the heuristic potential that this category have to analyse patterns of territorial development supported by livestock. From an empirical point of view, the article analyses data from the meat industry in Santa Catarina, from which the notion of Intensive Speciesism Regions (ISR) is outlined. They constitute territories that show Speciesism disproportionately intense in their development patterns, result of a socio-political, economic and symbolic process that combines radical moral disregard of animals with unrighteousness among humans.

Humor and Politics through the Animal in Cervantes and Leopold

Humor and Politics through the Animal in Cervantes and Leopold

A new environmental ethics: the next millennium for life on Earth

This Second Edition of A New Environmental Ethics: The Next Millennium for Life on Earth offers clear, powerful, and often moving thoughts from Holmes Rolston III, one of the first and most respected philosophers write on the environment and often called the father of environmental Rolston surveys the full spectrum of approaches in the field of environmental ethics and offers critical assessments of contemporary academic accounts. He draws on a lifetime of research and experience suggest an outlook, and even hope, for the future. This forward-looking analysis, focused on the new millennium, will be a necessary complement any balanced textbook or anthology in environmental ethics. The First Edition guaranteed to put you in your place. Beyond that, the Second Edition asks whether you want live a life on a de-natured planet. Key Updates in the Second Edition Covers the worsening environmental situation due actions of the Trump administration, including withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and from the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change Includes information on legislation in key U.S. states (e.g., California and New York) aimed ameliorate the damage done at the federal level Increases coverage of group knowledge, group agreement and disagreement, and group action in collective environmental ethics, as distinguished from individual knowledge and action Examines the deleterious effects of online consumer behavior Explains how a loss of solidarity among a nation’s citizens and even a larger solidary among humanity leads environmental degradation Offers new analysis of the effects of epistemic bubbles, echo chambers, and fake news on the behavior of voters and consumers Provides an extended critique of the Anthropocene Epoch, and the prospect of geo-engineering Earth become a synthetic environment.

Environmental Pragmatism and its Application to Climate Change - The Moral Obligations of Developed and Developing Nations to Avert Climate Change as viewed through Technological Pragmatism

Many authors have posited moral arguments, as to why climate change should be combated, but most fail to provide a practical solution for both developed and developing countries. James Garvey’s theory of equal burdens seeks to ensure that no country is unjustly penalized, and is currently the best theory on offer. This theory, though, falls short from a scientific perspective and leads to a philosophical objection. The philosophical objection is that there is no moral imperative to encourage developing countries to act and to develop responsibly, while providing no moral responsibility to future generations. Many authors have submitted that developed countries have historically used up an unfair majority of the world’s carbon sink, thereby depriving developing nations of their share. Prior to 1950, there were no cleaner alternatives available for commercial power generation (until the advent of nuclear power plants), and truly renewable sources of energy were not readily available until 1990 (wind, solar, geothermal, etc). As such, there was no alternative path for developed nations to pursue. The only other option would be to discourage further developments, which is counter productive and illogical. An environmental pragmatist view would claim that developed nations are responsible for using up the carbon sink, and should be held to a higher standard in light of cleaner alternative technologies. However, this view would also hold that developing countries also have a moral obligation to develop responsibly and apply cleaner technology. Consequently, the traditional argument that developing nations should be allowed to pollute and emit carbon, since current developed nations did so in the past, is inherently flawed. This, by no means, excuses developed nations from doing their part to combat climate change as they possess the technological innovation and economic resources to be an example to the rest of the world. The main questions that are raised include: How does environmental pragmatism dictate that climate change be combated and abated by implementing sustainable practices, when the current value system is centered upon economics? Also, what responsibilities does the developed and developing world have (and to whom)? &#x0D; Answering these questions demands a systematic review of past arguments concerning climate change, a description of their short comings, and a proposition of new solutions. Works from James Garvey, Stephen Haller, Peter Singer, John Cobb, Stephen Gardiner, Dale Jamison, and Donald Scherer are reviewed within this paper to gain an overview of the current moral arguments within the field of environmental ethics and climate change. The most important gap to fill will be the issue of emissions distributions for a carbon constrained world, which numerous philosophers have shown is the most moral solution. The proposed methods will involve viewing climate change through Environmental Pragmatism as posited by Andrew Light and Bryan Norton, and secondly through technology to address the objections to current theories. The purpose of blending science with moral philosophy is that one cannot make educated policy decisions without considering both. To address the second question in the previous paragraph, arguments will be made against traditional historical emissions for determining per capita emissions for CO2, as well as demonstrating that technological innovation has placed a moral requirement on developed as well as developing nations to do everything within their power to avert climate change.

Teaching Holism in Environmental Ethics

33 Students who enroll in my environmental ethics courses often come with a background in ecology and natural resources. Moreover, they often point to this background when they express their frustration with, or outright rejection of, individualistic or atomistic moral theories that simply strive to include individual living things within the purview of a moral community. They ultimately evoke the concept of holism as the source of their frustration. Addressing this concern requires trying to make sense of both the concept of holism generally and the supposed connection students sense between their training as young scientists and the attempt to ground a worthy environmental ethic. Many theories within the field of environmental ethics either evoke or rest upon the concept of holism. To date, however, the concept of holism has not been unpacked in any detail. To begin such an unpacking teachers need (1) to demonstrate how and when holism appears within the field of environmental ethics, (2) to explain the core idea underpinning holism and compare it to reductionism, and (3) to provide a general classification of how holism is employed in both a metaphysical and ethical sense within environmental ethics.

AFTER LYNN WHITE: RELIGIOUS ETHICS AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

ABSTRACTThe fields of environmental ethics and of religion and ecology have been shaped by Lynn White Jr.'s thesis that the roots of ecological crisis lie in religious cosmology. Independent critical movements in both fields, however, now question this methodological legacy and argue for alternative ways of inquiry. For religious ethics, the twin controversies cast doubt on prevailing ways of connecting environmental problems to religious deliberations because the criticisms raise questions about what counts as an environmental problem, how religious traditions change, and whether ethicists should approach problems and traditions with reformist commitments. This article examines the critiques of White's legacy and presents a pluralist alternative that focuses religious ethics on the contextual strategies produced by moral communities as they confront environmental problems.

From Environmental to Ecological Ethics: Toward a Practical Ethics for Ecologists and Conservationists

Ecological research and conservation practice frequently raise difficult and varied ethical questions for scientific investigators and managers, including duties to public welfare, nonhuman individuals (i.e., animals and plants), populations, and ecosystems. The field of environmental ethics has contributed much to the understanding of general duties and values to nature, but it has not developed the resources to address the diverse and often unique practical concerns of ecological researchers and managers in the field, lab, and conservation facility. The emerging field of "ecological ethics" is a practical or scientific ethics that offers a superior approach to the ethical dilemmas of the ecologist and conservation manager. Even though ecological ethics necessarily draws from the principles and commitments of mainstream environmental ethics, it is normatively pluralistic, including as well the frameworks of animal, research, and professional ethics. It is also methodologically pragmatic, focused on the practical problems of researchers and managers and informed by these problems in turn. The ecological ethics model offers environmental scientists and practitioners a useful analytical tool for identifying, clarifying, and harmonizing values and positions in challenging ecological research and management situations. Just as bioethics provides a critical intellectual and problem-solving service to the biomedical community, ecological ethics can help inform and improve ethical decision making in the ecology and conservation communities.

A Methodologically Pragmatist Approach to Development Ethics

This paper suggests that lessons from the field of environmental ethics and sociological perspectives on knowledge are important tools for rethinking what type of ethical analysis is needed for building up further the field of development ethics and, more generally, for addressing some of the most fundamental ethical problems related to global poverty and development. The paper argues for a methodologically pragmatist approach to development ethics that focuses on the interplay between facts, values, concepts and practices. It views development ethics as a hybrid between a public moral–political philosophy and a public conception of social science. Ethical analyses of poverty and development must lead to fundamental changes in the ways knowledge is produced and justified and must challenge the dominance of global institutions and orthodox economics as the single sources of expert knowledge for development. Two of the main tasks of ethical analysis is to provide tools for the formulation of alternative knowledge for development centred on the equal moral worth of all human beings, and to influence global policy making as well as multilateral institutions' goals and policies. The last section of the paper argues that Amartya Sen's version of the Capability Approach is already methodologically pragmatist and points to some convergence between Sen's work and John Dewey's. Further sociological and methodologically pragmatist analysis of the approach is needed to assess the ways in which it is influencing debates on human development and leading to policy changes, and the possible distortions it suffers when adopted by multilateral agencies and policy makers. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the international conference on Ethics and Development at Michigan State University, East Landing (USA) 8–15 April 2005. The section on methodological pragmatism draws from an unpublished paper written with Andrew Light called ‘A Pragmatist Methodology for Development Ethics,’ presented at the American Philosophical Association (APA) meeting in New York, December 1999. I have updated, transformed and used some parts and insights developed with Light in a way he may not recognize.

Environmental Ethics Beyond Principle? The Case for a Pragmatic Contextualism

Many nonanthropocentric environmental ethicists subscribe to a ``principle-ist'' approach to moral argument, whereby specific natural resource and environmental policy judgments are deduced from the prior articulation of a general moral principle. More often than not, this principle is one requiring the promotion of the intrinsic value of nonhuman nature. Yet there are several problems with this method of moral reasoning, including the short-circuiting of reflective inquiry and the disregard of the complex nature of specific environmental problems and policy arguments. In the present paper, we advance an alternative, pragmatic contextualist approach to environmental ethics, one grounded in the moral theory of John Dewey. We present the results of an empirical study of public environmental ethics and natural resource management attitudes to support our position, and we conclude with a few recommendations for future inquiry in the field of environmental ethics.

In need of new environmental ethics for tourism?

The principal aim of this paper is to evaluate the actions of tourism stakeholders towards nature within the context of environmental ethics. Through an understanding of the ethical stance taken by stakeholders towards nature, it becomes possible to comprehend actions and evaluate their suitability. The conceptual literature in the field of environmental ethics is utilized to analyze the policy statements and actions of stakeholders. The main conclusion is that the majority of them now pursue an ethic of conservation vis-a-vis an instrumental use of nature. However there seems to be little desire for a further shift to a non-anthropocentric environmental ethic.

Biotechnology, the Limits of Norton's Convergence Hypothesis, and Implications for an Inclusive Concept of Health

Bryan Norton proposes a “convergence hypothesis” stating that anthropocentrists and nonanthropocentrists can arrive at common environmental policy goals if certain constraints are applied. Within his theory he does not, however, address the consideration of nonconsequentualist issues, and, therefore, does not provide an argument for the convergence between consequentualist and nonconsequentualist ethical positions. In the case of biotechnology, nonconsequentualist issues can dominate the debate in both the fields of environmental ethics and bioethics. I argue that, the convergence hypothesis must be rejected when tested against the case of biotechnology, and this limitation of convergence applies to any theory of reconciliation within the “health” concept because the achievement and preservation of “health” emphasizes a consequentualist outlook. I conclude that an inclusive ethics for ecosystem and human health should be explicit about this limitation.