Lifeboat Ethics Research Articles

Ecological ethics: an introduction

Acknowledgements Chapter 1: Introduction * This Book * Value and Nature * Ethics and Grub * What's New? * Transparency Chapter 2: Ecological Crisis * The Signs * Analysing Ecocrisis * Science and Technology Chapter 3: Ethics * What is Ethics? * Ethical Realism vs. Relativism * The Naturalistic Fallacy * Religious Ethics * Secular Ethics Chapter 4: Three Schools of Ethics * Virtue Ethics * Deontology ('Rights') * Utilitarianism ('Consequences') Chapter 5: Value * Some Issues * Anthropocentrism * Ecocentrism Chapter 6: Light Green or Shallow (Anthropocentric) Ethics * What is a Light Green Ethic? * Lifeboat Ethics Chapter 7: Mid-green or Intermediate Ethics * Animal Liberation * Animal Rights * Biocentrism Chapter 8: Dark Green or Deep (Ecocentric) Ethics * A Suggested Definition * The Land Ethic * Gaia Theory * Deep Ecology * Deep-Green Theory * Left Biocentrism * The Earth Manifesto * Ecofeminism Chapter 9: Green Ethics as Post-Secular * Dogmatic Secularism * An Ecocentric Spirituality Chapter 10: Moral Pluralism and Pragmatism * The Poverty of Monism * The Consequences of Pluralism Chapter 11: Green citizenship * Making it Real * A Long Revolution? * Ecological Republicanism * A Note on Cunning Wisdom Chapter 12: A Case-Study: Human Overpopulation * The Problem * Analysing Overpopulation * What Overpopulation Is and is Not * Overpopulation and Ecocentrism Postscript Notes References Index

Lifeboat ethics: rescuing the metaphor

Garrett Hardin's ‘lifeboat ethics’ is examined in the light of historical evidence which may be applied in part and with moderation to avoid both Hardin's predicted catastrophe and the inevitable guilt for survivors. If the metaphor of the lifeboat is re-examined, and slightly modified by including examples of real open boat passages, a scheme for implementing lifeboat ethics may be supported. In a case where some or all of the victims outside the lifeboat may be safely rescued, it is the moral obligation of those in the boat to do so. The goal of any lifeboat situation, actual or metaphorical, is to secure the rescue of the greatest number of victims. The wrecks of both Endurance, on an exploratory voyage to Antarctica, and Essex, a whaling voyage, give insight into the application of lifeboat ethics.

Scarce goods: justice, fairness, and organ transplantation

Preface Lifeboat Ethics and the case of the William Brown The Scales of Justice: Principles and Practice Scarce Goods: The Contexts of Solid Organ Transplantation The Scales of Justice: Theories and Realities Disappearing States: The Scale of the Nation Distant Communities: The Problem of Supply The Lifeboat's Choice Justice in Ethic's Lifeboat Afterword Bibliography

Environmental ethics today

Preface Acknowledgments INTRODUCTION What Is Environmental Ethics? Enviromental Ethics Under Attack Disturbing Trends in Human Health Future Generations World Trade Population Growth and Obligations to the World's Poor Obligations to Nonhumans Preview of Chapters PART I: ANTHROPOCENTRISM 1. OVERPOPULATION, MARKETS, AND HUMAN RIGHTS Overpopulation and Scarcity What Are Free Markets? Cornucopian Economics The Tragedy of the Commons Public Goods, Externalities, and Government Coercion Trading Pollution Permits A Market Approach to Overpopulation Lifeboat Ethics Psychological Egoism and the Possibility of Sharing Human Rights 2. ENERGY, ECONOMICS, AND FUTURE GENERATIONS Global Warming and Future Generations Human Rights and the Futurity Problem Fair Contracts and Future Generations Environmental Tradeoffs and Cost-Benefit Analysis CBA and Increasing Scarcity CBA and Political Equality CBA and Future Generations 3. COMPETING HUMAN-CENTERED VALUES Environmental Hazards in the Third World How Much Money Is a Human Life Worth? Should Prostitution Be Legalized? Non-economic vs. Economic Anthropocentrism Aesthetic Values National Heritage Transformative Values and Future Generations Moral Pluralism Moral Relativism PART II: NONANTHROPOCENTRISM 4. ANIMAL LIBERATION AND UTILITARIANISM Cruelty to Animals Utilitarianism Speciesism Animal Husbandry Vegetarianism Rodeos and Bullfights The Replacement Argument Against Hedonism Preference Utilitarianism 5. ANIMAL RIGHTS AND MEDICAL RESEARCH Introduction The Nature of Rights Immortal Souls and Rights Language, Abstract Thinking, and Rights Moral Personality and Rights Contracts and Rights An Animal's Right to Life The Benefits of Experiments on Animals Animal Rights vs. Animal Research Limited Animal Rights in Reflective Equilibrium Animal Research in Reflective Equilibrium 6. SPECIES DIVERSITY AND GAIA Massive Extinction of Species Causes of Extinction Why Do We Protect Endangered Species? Animal Rights vs. Species Preservation Species as Individual Living Things The Gaia Hypothesis From Science to Metaphor Metaphors and Moral Implications Mechanical and Organic Metaphors for Nature 7. THE LAND ETHIC Hunting Animals to Preserve Ecosystems The Nature of Ecosystems Does Hunting Help or Hurt Ecosystems? Why Value Ecosystems? Conflicting Moral Commitments Tigers and Elephants in the Third World PART III: ENVIRONMENTAL SYNERGISM 8. HUMAN RIGHTS, AGRICULTURE, AND BIODIVERSITY Poverty, Efficiency, and Human Rights Environmental Synergism The Benefits of High-tech Agriculture Specialization Leads to Preoccupation with Money Fouling Our Own Nest Sustainability Problems The Green Revolution Biodiversity and Human Welfare Anthropocentrism or Synergism? 9. ECOFEMINISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE From Feminism to Ecogeminism Women as Subordinate Indigenous People as Subordinate Nature as Subordinate Women and Nature Subordination of Minorities Encourages Pollution Subordination of Women, Environmental Degradation, and Overpopulation Subordination of Native Peoples Reduces Biodiversity 10. RELIGION AND NATURE Should People Play God? The Master Interpretation of Christianity Hermeneutics and the Constitution Hermeneutics and the Bible Narratives, Grand Narratives, and Worldviews Naess' Deep Ecology Native American Religions The Stewardship Interpretation of Christianity The Citizenship Interpretation of Christianity PART IV: APPLICATIONS 11. PERSONAL CHOICES, CONSUMERISM, AND HUMAN NATURE Consumerism vs. Synergism Justifications of Economic Growth High Consumption and Human Welfare Marketing Discontent Extrinsic Motivations and Their Limits Some Instrinsic Motivations Looking for Love Your Money or Your Life 12. PUBLIC POLICIES, EFFICIENCY, AND GLOBALIZATION The Need for Collective Action Subsidizing Inefficiency More Efficient Transportation Agricultural Politics Corporate Welfare and Campaign Finance Reform The Promise of Globalization Globalization and Human Misery The World Trade Organization, Environmental Protection, and Democracy Each chapter ends with a section on Judgment Calls FINAL REFLECTIONS-IS OPTIMISM JUSTIFIED? Conflicting Trends Fragmenting Societies We Are the World Value Nature and Limit Human Power GLOSSARY

Transnational Conservation Movement Organizations: Shaping The Protected Area Systems of Less Developed Countries

This article compares transnational conservation organizations' efforts in Ecuador, Chile, and Peru in order to answer several questions: Why do transnational social movement organizations (TSMOs) engage in the politics of some nations but not others? Do TSMOs shape the policy decisions of less developed nations? What is the relationship between national political opportunity structure and transnational mobilization? Based upon historical data and fieldwork data, I argue that transnational conservationists can most easily affect the policies of politically "open" nations that have active domestic conservation movement organizations. In addition to influencing public policies, transnational conservationists are key actors in the development of private systems of biodiversity protection. Operating according to "lifeboat ethics," TSMOs select nations based on political criteria, while those nations most in need of conservation assistance (biodiversity hotspots) are neglected. This strategy contrasts sharply with strategies used by the transnational human rights movement.

Lifeboat Ethics in Business

Abstract:Lifeboat ethics is an anomalous concept that has been applied to many different situations, such as overpopulation. In this presentation, Lifeboat Ethics is applied to plant closings (Darlington, Amoco/Neodesha, Chrysler/Kenosha) and downsizing (BP Amoco). The power of the decision maker—not the rights of the employees—determines who will remain, who will be forced overboard, and who will be invited in.

Lifeboat Ethics in Business

Lifeboat Ethics in Business

From the Editors

The award-winning film “Titanic” released in 1997 once again brought to our attention the problems associated with the lifeboat ethic. Stunned audiences everywhere witnessed the chaos on board as, by design, one-third fewer lifeboats were available than for the passenger list. Violence erupted in the competition for a disputed spot; heroism and altruism also abounded. Additionally, viewers of the movie witnessed efforts to cheat and the power of money in having a secret lifeboat for the rich. (A first-class cabin on that cruise cost the equivalent of $75,000 per person in today's money.)

Human Jettison: Lifeboat Ethics and Economic Efficiency

Central to the study of the criminal law of necessity are the nineteenth century cases Holmes v. United States and Regina v. Dudley and Stephens, both being the trials of seamen forced to kill boatmates to ensure the survival of the others on the lifeboat. The seamen were convicted, although ultimately their punishment was not severe. However, in both cases public sentiment was on their side -- the general view seems to have been that the of the sea required actions consistent with the principle of the greatest good of the greatest number. In this essay I reconcile the general perception that sacrificing one individual in such circumstances to save the many is a socially good thing to do with the economist's intuition that because a person would not voluntarily contract to be sacrificed, such sacrifices are necessarily involuntary and therefore not Pareto-optimal. Using a version of the original state-dependent preferences model of Eisner and Strotz, in which the alternative state, death, is represented in the present by a bequest function, I show that as the probability of surviving in a lifeboat dwindles to zero, the minimum price a person puts on his life also dwindles to zero. Therefore, a custom of waiting until the last minute to sacrifice a person, and then making no payment to his estate, is Pareto-optimal. I further argue that the nautical custom (dating back to Old Testament times) of drawing lots to select the victim has an explanation consistent with economic rationality, in that when a lifeboat or other vessel is in such bad straits as to require a sacrifice, any deterministic selection method invites strategic behavior on the part of the victim, such as killing someone else, that would undermine the whole point of the sacrifice and actually increase the hazards faced by the lifeboat's company.

Population and Third World Assistance –A Comment on Hardin’s Lifeboat Ethics

Many philosophers have defended the view that well‐off people or nations have an obligation to assist people who suffer from famine in less developed areas of the world. However, in contrast to this outlook, some theorists have claimed that it is ethically wrong to provide this kind of assistance. In this article the non‐assistance view is discussed. It is argued that even if a neo‐Malthusian population theory is correct and if we accept a maximizing policy which allows the relevant weighing of evils, there may still be an obligation to assist the victims of starvation in poor countries.

Ethics and international relations

Preface to the Second Edition. 1. The International Orders. From Vienna to Versailles-The Rise of the Nation State. The Challenge of Internationalism. Sovereignty. Federalism and the International 'State of Nature'. The Law of Nature and Nations. Summary. 2. Realism, Morality and Law. The Hobbesian State of Nature. Realism. National Interest and Moral Responsibility. Moralism and the Domestic Analogy. Factual and Moral Disanalogy. Legalism. 3. War. Christian Attitudes to War. The Case for Pacifism. Just Wars. Justice Ad Bellum. Force and Violence. Justice In Bello. The Principle of Double Effect. 4. Weapons of Mass Destruction. The Argument So Far. Modern Warfare. Consequentialism. Deterrence. Threats, Bluffs and Conditional Intentions. Mutually Assured Destruction. Summary. 5. Humanitarian Intervention. Intervention and the Challenge to Legalism. Autonomy and the Nation State. Non-intervention and States as Persons. Consequentialism and Non-intervention. The Definition of Intervention. Intervention and Just War Theory. Intervention, the Rule of Law and the Duty to Intervene. Summary. 6. Terrorists, Guerillas and War on Terror. The Definition of Terror. Freedom Fighters. Terrorism. Guerilla Warfare. Torture and the War on Terrorism. Summary. 7. North and South, Aid and Trade. Absolute and Relative Poverty. Poverty and Cost/Benefit Analysis. Lifeboat Ethics. Taking Stock of the Arguments. Social Justice and Welfare Rights. Basic Rights, National Boundaries and International Justice. Aid and Trade: the World Bank and the WTO. Summary. 8. Globalization, Cosmopolitanism and the Environment. Globalization. Cosmopolitanism and Subsidiarity. Environmental Disaster. Environmental Ethics. Shallow and Deep Ecology. The Gaia Hypothesis. Globalization, Environment and International Relations. Bibliography. Index

Ethical dichotomies in organ transplantation a time for bridge building

Rapid advances of the past 15 years have resolved many of the technical and immunologic limitations to organ transplantation. With the success rates that can now be achieved, there is increased attention to the limited supply of donor organs and to cost considerations, the remaining obstacles to wide application of organ transplantation. Competition for organs and for funding demands greater focus on patient selection and resource allocation. As Charles Taylor, philosopher and political scientist, has written, ethical formulations inevitably conflict when each is taken to its logical end point. In the 1960s, a life boat ethics framework predominated for selection of transplant recipients. The opposing egalitarian framework of recent decades has allowed for enrollment of older transplant recipients and those with histories of substance abuse. In the United States, alcoholic liver disease has been the most common indication for orthotopic liver transplantation since 1987. Among those awaiting transplantation, urgency has been a priority over time waiting. But many potential transplant candidates who are young and who appear relatively stable die while waiting. Despite the shortage of cadaveric organs, physicians and ethicists have for the most part eschewed rewards or reimbursement for living related organ donation. Such conventions are a function of the prevailing zeitgeist and are susceptible to a paradigm shift in parallel with overall changes in societal regulation of medical practice. Theorists and practitioners are immersed in the trends of the day and the approach at each moment seems preferable to that of the moment preceding. From a practical standpoint it may be possible to bridge disparate ethical constructs. For example, in the wait for solid organ transplantation, a bicameral approach could alternatively accommodate time waiting and urgency. Selection of older patients and those with a past substance abuse history could be limited to those with the best prognosis for compliance and posttransplantation quality of life. Living organ donors and families of nonliving donors could receive incentives of a noncoercive nature that would stimulate participation without sacrificing altruism. Creative approaches are needed to improve fairness and efficacy in solid organ transplantation.

A terceira margem da saúde: a ética natural

Este trabalho pretende discutir a pertinência de uma ética natural complexa para o campo da saúde, em particular em saúde pública, escapando das principais disjunções herdadas da tradição moderna, tais como sujeito/objeto, público/privado, valor em si/valor por si. Considera-se, portanto, as contribuições trazidas pela epistemologia da complexidade que, ao conceber a constelação conceituai do vínculo e da possibilidade - que se delineia entre 'primeira natureza' (bioecológica) e 'segunda natureza' (sócio-cultural) nos humanos -, permite o diálogo entre os dois princípios fundamentais que norteiam os debates em bioética: o Princípio da Sacralidade da Vida e o Princípio da Qualidade da Vida. A ética natural considera tais princípios como sendo co-necessários para uma ética do nosso tempo, dividido entre o inevitável politeísmo de valores e normas decorrente da secularização do mundo tardomodemo - caracterizado pela tolerância e o pluralismo - e os necessários fundamentos para este tipo de 'sociedade aberta', que não podem se reduzir ao mero ceticismo epistemológico do vale tudo (anything goes) nem ao ceticismo moral corrosivo da lei do mais forte e do seu corolário da ética do salve-se-quem-puder (lifeboat ethics).

A Theory of Technology: Continuity and Change in Human Development by Thomas R. De Gregori (review)

THE REVIEW OF A THEORY OF TECHNOLOGY To the Editor: Being a reviewer of more than 100 scholarly books, including many in Technology and Culture—and the author of several books myself—it has always been my policy to accept any review, good or bad, of my books. Fortunately, most have been good. It is a well-founded and widely shared belief that it is better to receive bad reviews than not to be reviewed at all. However, when a review of my A Theory of Technology (T&C, October 1987) is not only critical but seriously misrepresents the book, then an obligation is owed to the editor and the journal’s readers to correct obvious error. Some of Professor Kristin Shrader-Frechette’s misrepresentations are so gross that a serious question can be raised of whether she even read the book, let alone read it carefully. Skimming through it for phrases to quote is the most generous interpretation that can be given after a comparison of the book and the review. I could address several instances in which the review severely distorted the content of my book, and have sent a full list to the reviewer. Here I respond to one major point of contention. Shrader-Frechette accuses me of “question-begging assertions” in the “ethical sphere,” in that I condone “the ‘Lifeboat Ethic,’ in which the rich nations allow the poor nations to starve.” There is nothing on the page cited, or anywhere in the book for that matter, that warrants this assertion. There is not even a complete sentence to be quoted out of context. The closest thing is a sentence that begins, “The catastrophist has given us the image of the overcrowded lifeboat. . . .” Since there is a sustained attack against the catastrophist throughout my book and since, in chapter 4, “Apocalypse Yesterday,” there is a specific attack against the catastrophist for advocating the Lifeboat Ethic and triage, nobody who read the book could have interpreted anything I said on one page as condoning this, even if they misread that one sentence. It is in a chapter in which I am attacking the notion of small is beautiful as a technological endeavor that excludes all others. I immediately go on to note the unintended twist to the metaphor of the overcrowded lifeboat as being a technology that is too small and then follow that with the “need” for boats (i.e., technologies) “with all the requisite capabilities of doing the job.” The “reality” that I am accused of using to condone the Lifeboat Ethic specifically and unambiguously refers to a “larger lifeboat with room for all” in the 1027 1028 Thomas R. DeGregori/Kristin Shrader-Frechette previous sentence and not to any presumed overcrowded lifeboat. After all, the entirety of the book is a running argument against the belief that we have surpassed (or are about to surpass) the limits of the earth’s carrying capacity. I personally find the Lifeboat Ethic to be abhorrent and agree with the “majority of philosophers and moralists [who] have condemned it.” In fact, however strongly I may have attacked the advocates of the lifeboat thesis, considerations of libel prevented an expression of even harsher condemnation. My career has been in the economic develop­ ment of Third World countries (I was in Asia when the review was published, which explains the delay in response). I do not appreciate being portrayed as an advocate of the Lifeboat Ethic and believe that an apology is owed to me unless Shrader-Frechette can provide evidence for her charge. Thomas R. DeGregori Dr. DeGregori is professor of economics at the University of Houston. To the Editor: Writers with deficient logical skills often accept certain propositions but inconsistently fail to recognize that this acceptance also requires them to consent to the logical consequences of those propositions. One cannot consistently accept a proposition but reject its logical consequences. In the case of Professor DeGregori’s A Theory of Technology, perhaps this and other problems of consistency arose because he wrote a book in which he attempted to do logical and ethical analysis (i.e., philosophy), even though he is not a specialist in the held. If one chooses to...

Determinism, idealism and the politics of environmentalism—a view point

Over the past 15 years there have been ideological shifts in the ecologically‐based environmentalist movement. The earlier emphasis was on reactionary ideologies of neo‐Malthusianism and the lifeboat ethic, romantic anti‐urbanism and rural escapism. These were strongly underpinned by the notion of naturally‐imposed limits on human endeavour which sprang from a philosophy of environmental determinism. Now there is more emphasis upon human free will and less which is escapist, defensive and socially regressive. The green movement is increasingly compatible with socialism, but there is still a large ideological gap between “Green” and “Red” wings of the movement. Green Greens are idealistic, and mistakenly believe that they have discovered a new politics which are “above” the politics of class conflict. They call for a common unity and for spiritually‐inspired value changes, and erroneously think that their ecotopian vision is becoming a widespread reality. Green socialists, however, are more realistic becau...

Fertility Reduction Policies and Poverty in Third World Countries: Ethical Issues

This article begins with a discussion of the motivation for fertility reduction and related population policies. Next, it identifies the two major approaches to evaluating these policies in the population ethics literature: the individualistic approach and the international approach. Each approach is then characterized according to the kinds of policies evaluated, the ethical principles that are most prominent, and the major conclusions drawn. Major empirical gaps in the population ethics literature are identified, and pertinent social science issues concerning the effectiveness of family planning programs, the socioeconomic determinants of fertility, and the interpersonal or community determinants of fertility are discussed. Finally, these issues are linked with the United Nations World Population Plan of Action to identify ethical questions that warrant detailed scrutiny.

HAZARDS AND CRISES: A POLITICAL ECONOMY OF DROUGHT AND FAMINE IN NORTHERN NIGERIA*

During the early 1970s much of the Sahel and northern Sudanic savannas of West Africa was gripped by a devastating famine which had its origins in a run of drought years in the late 1960s. Prior to the exposure of widespread starvation and human suffering throughout Sahelia, both the academic and popular presses paid scant attention to the Sahel’s existence. Since 1974, however, the arid and semi-arid lands have assumed [some] popularity, if not notoriety, including an appearance on the cover of Time magazine under the dubious title of “creeping deserts.” In fact, the Sahel famine in particular has gained a sort of textbook notoriety and is usually invoked as an archetypical example of poor land use, desertification, local or global climatic change, [...] population pressure, or life boat ethics in practice. The Sahel has even entered the heady realms of high culture for John Updike’s witty novel, The Coup, based on the demise of the Kingdom of Kush − “land of delectable, delicate emptiness” − [and] clearly modeled after the Sahelian states. In addition there has been the commitment of a massive amount of foreign aid ($10 billion by the Club du Sahel); and political pressure from the Sahelian States themselves prompted the United Nations General Assembly to confront the global problem of desertification, from which emerged an International Conference convened in Nairobi during 1977. Yet, despite the resultant proliferation of Sahelian and Arid Lands Institutes, the profusion of rather ephemeral research organizations, multi-volume studies by USAID on long-

Local Growth Management: The Policy Problem of Lifeboat Ethics

Local Growth Management: The Policy Problem of Lifeboat Ethics

Lifeboat Ethics?

Lifeboat Ethics?

Commentary: Brotherhood and Lifeboat Ethics

One would probably be mistaken. Neither logic nor anthropological research finds close kinship to be incompatible with lifeboat ethics; indeed, kinship may sometimes facilitate them. In the logically extreme or ideal-type case of brotherhood (and kinship more generally), all members of the clan would value the interest of the clan and act in that interest, with total disregard for their separate fortunes. In the simplest case, all members are of equal value to the clan and structural position does not affect anyone's value. In that case, each values his/her life and welfare equally with that of all the other members of the