Environmental Ethics Essay

Creating an Environmental Ethic Essay
Creating an Environmental Ethic
Traditionally, Western views of environment ethics has been unclear and for the most part
unnecessary. We used earth's resources without thinking about consequence. This nonchalant use
aided in the West's ability to influence the world through technological advances. In the past, limited
travel and slow communication systems had limited our view to a local one. If pollution or to much
urbanization occurred the solution was to move. Industrialization has changed things. With science
advancing so quickly, the population exploding, and our environment actually being truly affected
on a global scale. Within our lifetime, we can see changes in the environment. No longer do we have
wild frontiers,...show more content...
Everything in nature lives in a symbiosis so complicated that we cannot disassociate a living thing
from its habitat. Humans have the ability to alter their surroundings and disrupt the balance of nature
to a point where an equilibrium may never be reached. So in the definition of nature, human element
have no part of it. We will assume that we act as an outside force onto a habitat.
Nature is intrinsically good Although our actions towards the environment, especially within the
past 150 year, may not have been favorable, nevertheless the historical and global attitudes toward
nature has always been one of reverence. The proof of this reverence can be seen through
religion. It can also be inferred from our interests in science and the fact throughout history there
have always been advocates for the preservation of nature. These notions are not limited to a
section of the world, but have independent roots in many cultures and societies world wide. One
place to start are in cosmology sagas. Many of them have a common thread of being highly
naturalistic and emphasizing the miracle of all life. The Enuma Elish, an ancient tale from
Mesopotamia, describes the forming of the world from pure water. These people's most revered
gods and goddesses were ones of land and abundance. Although this can be explained away by many
critics as simply there dependence on an agrarian society,
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In today 's global environment, environmental ethics has become a necessary practice all around
the world as environmental problems cross cultural boundaries. However, creating effective
strategies for safeguarding and conserving the environment often bring about ethical issues. In
these issues of how to reduce or get rid of pollution and hazardous waste, ethics is at the forefront,
especially when there is an absence of laws to governor the issue or lack of adherence to the law.
The benefit of employing ethics is that ethics are more likely to be effective in bringing about
significant behavioral changes in people. World religions contain ethics and standard of conduct that
suggests how humans should behave towards each other and nature....show more content...
In the environmental context, early Islam was characterised by its simplicity and high regards for
nature. As Islam spread into Africa, Asia and Europe in the seventh century, it maintained its
naturalistic roots.
For Muslims, the Qur'an (a revelation from Allah which expresses the will of Allah) and the Sunnah
(a historical record of the Prophet Muhammad's sayings and deeds), are the primary and secondary
sources of Islamic principles embedded in the Shari'ah (Islamic law). Muslims and many scholars
believe these sources provide the answers for all ethical questions, including environmental ethics.
From these sources, three fundamental principles: tawhid, khilafah and al–akhirah are known as the
conceptual basis of the Islamic life concerning Islamic environmental ethics. Tawhid is the concept
of unity, balance and harmony and the foundation of Islamic faith. On one hand, unity refers to the
singularity of God, which implies that the whole universe is designed accordingly to the
craftsmanship of one divine being. Humans and the ecosystem are part of the same universe, with
Allah as the unifying thread that guides God–human, human–human, and human–universe
relationships. On the other hand, unity is also understood through the concept of equilibrium. In
Islam, the universe is maintained in balance, as God created everything in proportion and measure.
The idea of equilibrium extends beyond nature to encompass the essential character of Muslims such
that

The Ethics Of Environmental Ethics
The writings for the week covered different approaches to what environmental ethics is and how it is
obtained. Different approaches in the value in environmental ethics are found due to the different
approaches. In terms of value one must find what value means to them and how they measure it.
Dobel and Frendel came to the approach that religion is a basis of environmental ethics. This is due
to the fact that roots of both Christianity and Judaism discussing the need to care for the earth in
some way. Frendel states that God's statement to Adam in the Garden of Eden was to work and
watch over it (Freundel) Other Western religious writings express that man has dominion over the
fish, birds, cattle, and creepy things of earth. Many people, such as Lynn White Jr., take these
writings as the source of the environmental crisis that is upon us today. While there are a many
writings that are similar to the one above there are also ones that support the earth such as I Tim.
4:4 which states that God created the world in love and freedom and valued it as good thus all
creatures shall share in its goodness. (Dobel, 1977)
Shue doesn't go as far as describing what is environmental ethic but as what is fair and equal to the
rich and the poor. He discusses three principles that can lead to fair and equitable actions across the
board. The three principles are fundamental fairness and acceptable inequality, unequal burden, and
guaranteed minimum. Each one of the principles provides lead to

Value Of Environmental Ethics
Ethics is a moral principle that governs a person. As humans, we all share a common ethics that we
use to guide us in our everyday life. However when it comes to Environmental ethics, we all have
different point of views. Environmental ethics according to the Stanford encyclopedia of Philosophy
is defined as "the discipline in 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 reason why
there is such a different point of view is because of education or just human greed. Not everyone in
the world has access to education and so, it is hard to expect them to be fully educated on the topic
of the importance of different types of natural resources.
On another factor, human greed especially in the industrialized world, has become the driving force
to get work done. An example could be cutting down trees, polluting different water resources, and
hunting down endangered animals. The question then is "Is it morally acceptable for farmers to
practice slash and burn techniques to clear areas for agriculture? Do mining companies have a
moral obligation to restore the landform and surface ecology of a land they used? Does the natural
environment and/or its various contents have certain values in their own right so that these values
ought to be respected and protected in any case?"(Andrew).These question are the central point of
environmental ethics. Environmental Ethics is a concept

Utilitarianism Vs Environmental Ethics
An individual will be considered virtuous if he/she is able to make appropriate moral actions or carry
himself/herself in an ethical way that is in accordance to his/her personality (Mosser, 2013). These
decisions are solely based on serving others and therefore it is contrary to utilitarian perspective.
Possessing virtues is paramount in discussing issues surrounding environment, for instance, making
the environment the comfortable habit. Also, virtues will help an individual make moral decisions
that will aim at coming up with lasting solutions to environmental issues. There are two categories
of people: those who are conversant and appreciate their contribution to the better environment and
those holding contrary views on the betterment of the environment.
Aristotle highlighted virtues which are important to a person. These virtues are as follows:
temperance, proper judgment, and courage. For an individual to be virtuous he/she has to put into
practice these qualities in a balanced manner, and this person is referred as phronesis (Mosser,
2013). When these values are applied in real life situation, it will be of great help to an individual
especially environmentalists who aim at making the environment a better place in which
environment constituents live. According to Hill, (2013), we as human are the...show more content...
Therefore there is need to educate the general public on the proper utilization of environment and
also be enlightened about the importance of the good environment to the future generation. In doing
so, they will use self–control and proper judgment as an approach to avoid causing environmental
hazards. Also, they put into practice the virtue of courage in putting across the reasons for
maintaining a better environment for them and future generation. Finally, through justice, an
individual will establish equality and fairness for

Environmental Ethics And Environmental Safety
Environmental ethics can be formally defined in many sources as the study of human interaction
with nature. In a business sense, however, environmental ethics is concerned with the business' duty
or responsibility to protect our overall environment. Our society is beginning to become more
involved with the environmental movement. Because of this, people are more concerned with the
companies and businesses that they support in regards to their concern towards our environment.
Some argue that businesses should be attempting to protect our environment over and above what is
required by United States Law. Doesn 't it seem the only 'ethical' thing to do? In this paper I will
elaborate about environmental compliance obligations, businesses and environmental ethics
movements, as well as what companies have been trying to do to become more ethical when it
comes to our environment that goes above and beyond the law. The survival and growth of 'green
businesses' in the U.S. is increasingly large. Environmental compliance obligations are monitored by
the EPA, or the Environmental Protection Agency. Their basic mission is quite simplistic in that
they need to protect human health and the overall environment. "EPA, state, local and tribal agencies
work together to ensure compliance with environmental laws passed by Congress, state legislatures
and tribal governments" (Introduction: Environmental Enforcement and Compliance, n.d.). These
groups all work together to ensure

History of the Origins of Environmental Ethics
The inspiration for environmental ethics was the first Earth Day in 1970 when environmentalists
started urging philosophers who were involved with environmental groups to do something about
environmental ethics. An intellectual climate had developed in the last few years of the 1960s in
large part because of the publication of two papers in Science: Lynn White's "The Historical Roots
of our Ecologic Crisis" (March 1967) and Garett Hardin's "The Tragedy of the Commons"
(December 1968). Most influential with regard to this kind of thinking, however, was an essay in
Aldo Leopold's A SandCounty Almanac, "The Land Ethic," in which Leopold explicitly claimed that
the roots of the ecological...show more content...
Most debate among philosophers until the mid–1980s was focused on refuting Passmore. In 1975
environmental ethics came to the attention of mainstream philosophy with the publication of Holmes
Rolston, III's paper, "Is There an Ecological Ethic?" in Ethics.
Arne Naess, a Norwegian philosopher and the founding editor of the journal Inquiry authored and
published a paper in Inquiry "The Shallow and the Deep, Long–Range Ecology Movement" in 1973,
which was the beginning of the deep ecology movement. Important writers in this movement include
George Sessions, Bill DeVall, Warwick Fox, and, in some respects, Max Oelschlaeger.
Throughout the 1970s Inquiry was the primary philosophy journal that dealt with enviornmental
ethics. Environmental ethics was, for the most part, considered a curiousity and mainstream
philosophy journals rarely published more than one article per year, if that. Opportunities for
publishing dramatically improved in 1979 when Eugene C. Hargrove founded the journal
Environmental Ethics. The name of the journal became the name of the field.
The first five years of the journal was spent mostly arguing about rights for nature and the
relationship of

Environmental Ethics
Environmental ethics The Industrial Revolution fundamentally shifted the relationship of human
beings to nature. Once, human beings were relatively vulnerable and helpless before the forces of
the natural world. Now, in the age of industrialization, humanity is able to change and shape nature,
as well as simply try to survive its onslaught. With the ability to alter nature has come unexpected
consequences, however, that forces our species to continually reevaluate how it relates to the
environment. Global warming is often seen as the consequences of human beings attempting to
dominate nature, through the construction of fossil fuel–burning machinery, industrialized
agriculture, and the clearing of national habitats. The question of how to live in a state of balance
with nature has generated the branch of philosophy known as environmental ethics, a form of applied
ethics that studies the relationship of humans to the environment and often provides prescriptive
advice about how human beings should live in nature. The central debate between environmentalists
is how human beings should relate to nature. Should the general health of the planet be the focus,
with human life viewed as merely one species amongst many, as advocates of the Deep Ecology
movement purport? A similar view is advocated by utilitarian philosophers such as Peter Singer:
"the interests of all the sentient beings (i.e., beings who are capable of experiencing pleasure or
pain) –– including nonhuman ones ––

Environmental Ethics Essay
The Need for Environmental Ethics
"Unless humanity is suicidal, it should want to preserve, at the minimum, the natural life–support
systems and processes required to sustain its own existence" (Daily p.365). I agree with scientist
Gretchen Daily that drastic action is needed now to prevent environmental disaster. Immediate action
and changes in attitude are not only necessary for survival but are also morally required. In this
paper, I will approach the topic of environmental ethics from several related sides. I will discuss why
the environment is a morally significant concern, how an environmental ethic can be developed, and
what actions such an ethic would require to maintain and protect the environment.
The most obvious...show more content...
The cost of controlling pollution is that we give up certain consumer goods and services, such as a
new washing machine or hospital, up to the point that we decide that the having the washing
machine or hospital is more important than the environment. Yet, even Baxter admits that it is nearly
impossible to assign values and costs to such different items. Considering modern science, it would
also be difficult to ignore the effect pollution has on many plant and animal species on which
humans depend.
However, a human–centered ethic can be a strong foundation for environmental concern when taken
in context. Human beings are completely dependent on natural ecosystems for survival, though we
have only recently recognized this fact. Despite advances in science and technology, there is still
much about the functions and interaction of different elements of the environment that we just do
not understand. We do realize, however, that our actions impacting the environment will always
affect other humans as well as future generations. Furthermore, we know that to attempt to replace
the natural environment with an engineered one is completely beyond our technological ability, not
mention impossibly expensive. Thus, it becomes imperative to human survival that we develop an
environmental ethic.
Peter Singer's Practical Ethics seeks to extend human–centered Western ethics to include all sentient
creatures (all beings who can

To keep our environment healthy, all these element need to work together. There are no global laws
protecting the environment and that is why everyone should practice good ethics when it comes to
the environment. Environmental ethics is the part of environment philosophy which considers
extending the traditional boundaries of ethics from only including hum and to non–humans. There
are many ethical decisions that human beings make with respect to the environment. Humans are
been considered of rational agents because they have clear preference, models uncertainty via
expected values, and always to perform the action with the optimal expected outcome of itself. The
action of the rational agent performs depends on the...show more content...
It will influence the future generations to why we consider environment has been important, create
opportunities for generation to come, a culture that can be passed on and sense of appreciation of
such an experience (Singer, 2011). This point may not so readily apply to a wider consequentialist
approach, which attributes intrinsic value not only to pleasure or satisfaction, but also to various
objects and processes in the natural environment (Singer, 2011).
John Rawls states that the principle of fairness is important as it applies to individuals the
principle of fairness are a link between the two principles of social or political justice and
individual obligations to comply with specific social practices (Pogge, 2007). By expanding the
scope of what one considers to be an 'end' to include both aspects of nature as well as future
generations, one can transform the implications of Rawls' theory (Pogge, 2007). Rawls advances
his theory of justice through what is called the Original Position which is a hypothetical situation
in which all individuals are granted perfect equality and are asked to choose a principle of justice
behind a veil of ignorance, which eliminates their biases (Pogge, 2007). The hypothetical persons
in the Original Position, ignorant of who and what they will be in society and perfectly equal to
one another, are able to truly come to a consensus as to what a just society would be (Pogge, 2007).
Justice

"If we each take responsibility in shifting our own behavior, we can trigger the type of change that
is necessary to achieve sustainability for our race or this planet. We change our planet, our
environment, our humanity every day, every year, every decade, and every millennia." –– Yehuda
Berg
The state of our environment has been deteriorating for centuries. Every part of the planet has been
negatively impacted by man. Environmental degradation was greatly accelerated by the industrial
revolution that took place in the 19th century. The industrial revolution mechanized the production
of goods and introduced the use of machinery and other heavy equipment which were fueled by
dirty sources of energy. At first, wood and coal powered the...show more content...
The environment provides many valuable resources for human beings including but not limited to
many necessary elements for sustaining life. It can be argued, therefore, that when a person protects
the environment for his own good and that of future generations, he may justify his actions under the
principle that human life is sacred and must be protected. Without air, clean water, and healthy plants
and animals on which to feed, the human race, along with many other races, would die out.
Those who do not feel they are morally obligated to protect the environment may read another
meaning into what the Bible states. "Dominion" can also imply that man is free to do whatever he
pleases with the assets which have been allocated to him. However, if "man," in general, has been
given the environment to share with all other humans, we must respect the fact that we are only
entitled to do what every human is entitled to do. We must realize that our rights only exist to the
point at which they infringe on the rights of others.
To appeal to the utilitarian approach, one person's disrespect for the environment – by spilling toxic
waste to use a drastic example – may enable him/her a small amount of happiness due to the fact
that he/she is free to be irresponsible and carefree. However, this action holds the potential to cause
enormous amounts of unhappiness through loss of health, a decrease in the availability of natural
resources, and a decline

It is a strong belief of mine that the responsibility of protecting the environment is much greater on
today's generation than is was for past generations. The reason that I feel the way that I do is because
at this point a substantial amount of damage has already been done and in order to prevent any
further environmental destruction intervention on our part is necessary. After all, we (humans) are the
main cause of the problems; shouldn't we also be a part of the cure. If we had always taken the
environment into consideration prior to our actions we would not be faced with some of the
environmental issues we are facing today. The problem started with the pastgenerations but the
solution now has to start...show more content...
This is due to the rise of contraceptive use in third world countries. In more economically stable
countries couples are waiting until later age to start families and are choosing to have fewer children
than their parents. But on the other hand the population is getting older with the advances in modern
medicine and the availability of vaccinations and medical treatments.
I believe that due to our (people) past carelessness regarding the environment and our ongoing
search for convenience in the present we are hurting our selves in the long run. Reports show that
today skin cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death. We have to go to somewhat
extreme measures on a daily biases to protect ours skin from the suns harmful ultra violet rays
which was not the case for past generations. Sun block did not even exist decades ago and now we
can't imagine life with out it. What needs to be done is we need to take measures to make
changes in our actions to prevent worse conditions for future generations. It was the actions of
past generations that lead to the current damage of the ozone layer that is causing the serious skin
conditions of the present generation. It will only get worse if we do not take measures to protect
what is left of the ozone layer. For if we don't I can not imagine what will have to be done just to be
able to go out into the sun, or what new skin

Essay on Environmental Ethics
Ethics is the study of what is right and wrong in human conduct. Environmental ethics studies the
effects of human's moral relationships on the environment and everything within it (Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2008). The ethical principles that govern those relations determine
human duties, obligations, and responsibilities with regard to the Earth's natural environment and all
of the animals and plants that inhabit it (Taylor, 1989). The purpose of this paper is to reveal
environmental issues that are threatening the existence of life on Earth, and discus our social
obligations to refrain from further damaging our environment, health and life for future generations.
I will discus the need for appropriate actions and the ethical...show more content...
These perspectives are anthropocentric or human centered and view all non–human life as less
important than humans themselves. Environmental ethics challenges these beliefs by questioning
the assumed moral superiority of human beings to members of other species on earth (SEP, 2008).
Preservation of the environment is essential to the preservation of the human race. Global Warming
is the number one concern threatening the very existence of humans and everything within the
environment today. The human race is to blame for the destruction of the natural world. The
environmental issues that are threatening all human and non–human life today, started in the
industrial revolution and the discovery of oil The need to improve the quality of life resulted in the
construction of factories to mass produce products for consumers. These factories were powered by
fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. The combustion of these fossil fuels emitted great quantities of
pollutants that remain in the Earths atmosphere to this day and is the number one cause of global
warming. However, in ethics one cannot evaluate just one thing. In ethics, as in nature, everything is
connected to everything else (Partridge, 1998). Deforestation for agricultural purposes and the
expansion of human habitats is happening around the world. This

Kant's Principle and Environmental Ethics
1.All of the three approaches to environmental ethics use Kant's principle to various extents. The
differences between them lie in their individual definitions of moral categories. It's like looking at
the same slide under three different powers on a microscope. Each approach relies on Kant's
principle to protect the interest of that which they deem worthy.
Baxter's anthropocentric approach clearly states that our obligations regarding the environment are
to be determined solely on the basis of human interests. Our welfare depends on breathable air,
drinkable water and edible food. Thus, polluting the environment to the extent that it damages the
air, water and land is unacceptable...show more content...
Another adjustment to the microscope, and we can examine Leopold's biocentric opinion of how
environmental ethics should be governed. His approach enlarges the moral category to include soils,
waters, plants and animals and claims our obligation is to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty
of the biotic community. Philosophers Devall and Sessions further define the biocentric view with
the concept of deep ecology. Devall and Sessions argue that "the well–being and flourishing of
human and non–human life have value in themselves. These values are independent of the usefulness
of the non–human world for human purposes." (503)
2. Autonomy and liberty have almost the same definitions and I believe that both Nielson and
Hospers were trying to convey the same point, but at the same time have different views of the two
shown by the context they used them in. Nielson states, "An autonomous person is a person who is
able to set her ends for herself and in optimal circumstances is able to pursue those ends". (359) In
Hospers explanation of his second classification of human rights, the right to liberty, he states "there
should be no laws compromising in any way freedom of speech…There should be no
censorship…by government". (353) Comparing these two interpretations, we see that both are
essentially stating that a person has the right to do anything they please, and in the case of liberty,

Environmental challenges as business opportunity
I. INTRODUCTION "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's
greed." – Mahatma Gandhi The above quote rightly points out the role of environment for the
mankind and the responsibility we need to shoulder for its sustenance. We've come a long way in
recognizing that and now almost every business has a statute of doing something good for the
environment as part of their CSR initiative. But companies who think of the environment as a social
responsibility and not as an imperative are not going in the right direction. The global climate
changes and the gradual scarcity of resources have come to light as major disruptions in the business
environment. These challenges...show more content...
This view tries to develop people's value and belief towards environment and manage the way people
think. There's a major difference between the conventional and modern views of Environment ethics
in that that attention now swings from the person who wants to preserve the world to the one who
wants to interfere with it. Religion and Environment Does religion really influence our attitude
towards nature? Well there is ample evidence around us that provides a link between the two.
Judeo–Christian traditions have shaped the way the western world thinks about nature. Western
Christianity assumed an Anthropocentric view in the sense that they separated humans from nature
and encouraged exploitation of nature for the benefit of man. "And God said, Let us make man in
our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl
of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon
the earth"– Book of Genesis, verse 1:26 In contrast, ancient Hindus adopted Biocentrism and felt
God's presence in everything around them, humans and plants and animals alike. They considered
the nature around them as a manifestation of the Almighty himself, the Brahmaan. Hence, they felt
that in order to please God, they must live in harmony with His creations. The Bhoomi Poojan, for
example, is a ritual performed in order to worship Mother Earth and seek forgiveness for violating

Environmental Ethics And Pollution
Pollution is a growing concern for some people, but for others it is of no importance. The way
humans treat the environment is such a controversial topic that people began to examine the topic
from a moral standpoint, so much so that three approaches were developed. The Anthropocentric
Approach, the Sentientist Approach, and the Biocentric Approach are the main theories people get
examine when debating about environmental ethics. People who have an anthropocentric view
believe that nature is there to satisfy human interests, harming the environment is only bad if it also
harms humans. For example, cutting down a tree to build a house would be a positive thing because
it is valuable to humans. However, if cutting down the tree did not bring about a positive outcome
the action would be negative. William Baxter is one of the most vocal ethicist that strongly believe
in the anthropocentric approach. As stated before, William Baxter focuses on human interests. He
believes that the environment is just a means, a stepping stone to satisfy humans wants and needs.
In addition, Baxter believes living in a "clean environment" is not as achievable as others believe
it to be because it is such a broad goal. Baxter argues that clear goals are needed to address moral
questions about the environment because the where, when, why, and how are never fully covered
when discussing the topic. There is never a clear and concise goal when deliberating environmental
issues. For example, if someone

Environmental Ethics Essay example
"At the current rate, we're headed for and environmental disaster," many say, but how much truth
does that statement hold. Have humans really destroyed, pillaged, and polluted enough to cause a
serious, wide scale, disaster? If not, then can we continue on without changing, and not learn from
our mistakes? If so, then can we do anything today that will bring about a tomorrow available to us?
All of these questions hold great pertinence for our current situation. Humans don't exactly hold the
best track record for environmental protection and preservation. Throughout time we have exploited
nature and its creatures for our own benefit. We have made technological advances that threaten and
disrupt the environment with total disregard...show more content...
We produce an inert, easily producible propellant for aerosols; and then realize it?s only inert on
the ground. Once it?s bombarded by UV ray in the upper atmosphere it releases a highly
destructive ion that wreaks havoc on the protective ozone layer shielding us from those same
deadly UV rays, creating a hole in the layer allowing the radiation through, increasing cancer and
other genetic defects. We build rockets capable of going into space and breaking the earth?s
gravitational pull; and then immediately start to pollute this new environment with spent rockets
and boosters along with other miscellaneous particles of debris (Curran and Haw 3). Michael
Crichton writes, ?What we call nature is a complex system of far greater subtlety than we are
willing to accept. We make a simplified view of nature and then botch it all up. ?You have to
understand what you don?t understand. How many times must the point be made? How many times
must we see the evidence? We build the Aswan Dam and claim it is going to revitalize the country.
Instead, it destroys the fertile Nile Delta, produces parasitic infestation, and wrecks the Egyptian
economy? (Jurassic Park 91). To the common person our current situation contains little hope. All the
advancement and improvements have done little to further our species. With each one has come a
new environmental issue. You almost need to evaluate each situation in terms of positives and
negatives. However, at the root of all

Anthropocentric Environmental Ethics
A critique against the Western anthropocentric environmental ethics, using the treatment of animals
and their rights as an example.
Brennan (1984) defined environmental ethics as the discipline in 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. This essay will look at environmental ethics as a discipline, its development and
challenges, the anthropocentric and non–anthropocentric approaches, the critiques of
anthropocentrism, the use of animal rights as an example of the importance of non– anthropocentrism
Contemporary environmental ethics only emerged as an academic discipline in the 1970's
(Dasgupta, 2001). According to Brennan (1984),...show more content...
The answer is that suffering is suffering and love is love and we cannot wipe out human suffering
without addressing the suffering of all living beings. The person who would brutalize an innocent
animal is the same person who would brutalize his or her closest relative. Any place that suffering
can be addressed is a good place to focus attention. Many humans have an attitude that restricts their
ability to understand or empathize with non–human animals and other life forms and has some
serious implications for all life on this planet. Animals or other life forms that don't express
themselves in human ways by language or in terms easily comprehensible by common human
standards are often considered less developed, inferior, more primitive or mechanistic, and usually of
less importance than humans (Dominick, 1998). This viewpoint has been used to justify using
animals as objects for human ends. Since humans are the superior creatures, "dumb, unfeeling"
non–humans can be disregarded, mistreated, killed or whole species eliminated without much
concern for their existence in itself, only their usefulness or lack of it to humankind (Harvey, 2005).
Many humans, as they see other animals are more like them in patterns of behavior and expression
of intelligence, begin to respect them more and treat

The challenge facing humanity today, is to bring our activities into the carrying capacity of the
Earth's supporting ecosystems while improving the quality of life today and for future generations.
We live in a world of limits. Our natural resources will not last forever as we have discovered when
our forests started disappearing and when droughts limit our water supply. Leaders in the following
fields provide the platform for the theoretical discussion of environmental global change. Economies
exist within, and rely upon ecological systems for natural resources and ecological economics
applies principles of ecology and systems science to the analysis of economic systems.
Environmental science studies how the natural world works, how our environment affects us, and
how we affect our environment and applies ethical standards to relationships between people and
aspects of the environment. Social science disciplines address human interaction and institutions and
ethics is a branch of philosophy of moral principles held by a person or a society. Environmental
ethics are normative or prescriptive; they are do's and don'ts regarding your interactions with the
environment. Since human society clearly affects the environment in numerous ways already,
environmental ethics would involve evaluative judgments regarding how humans are affecting the
environment; what is good or bad in our collective behavior. Based on such judgments,
environmental ethics would also include recommendations

Our modern industrial society provides us with great physical and psychological comfort. We live
not with a fear for our lives, we are politically stable and dominant; even the terrorist attacks against
us cannot strip us of our safety bubble. We live with the luxury of convenience provided by our
technologies, such as household appliances, personal computers, indoor heating and plumbing,
personal automobiles with "endless fuel" the list is infinite. We live in a disposable society, where it
is not commonplace to have material goods fixed, but rather replaced. We have disposable
everything, diapers, water bottles, contacts, paintbrushes... again, our convenience is never–ending.
This convenient lifestyle coupled with our massive...show more content...
Thus we will not wrong future generations, as we have been wronged by members of past
generations whose thoughtless actions have deprived us of the possibility of seeing such animals as
the dodo, Steller's sea cow, or the thylacine, the Tasmanian marsupial 'tiger'. We must take care not
to inflict equally irreparable losses on the generations to follow us." (p.273) Singer discusses the
question of intrinsic value and to whom it pertains. Are humans the only sentient beings who have
interests that matter or do we as a society also perceive value in non–human beings? To answer this,
we need to examine the meaning of intrinsic value. Something of intrinsic value is good or
desirable in itself and in contrast, instrumental value is a means to some other end or purpose. An
example of intrinsic value would be our own happiness because we desire it for its own sake.
Money, on the other hand, is of only instrumental value to us because we want it only for the thing
we can buy with it. With this in mind, Singer seems very realistic in the push for economic
prosperity, but states several very good arguments against the trade of our resources for dollar bills.
An argument that I found to be particularly strong grew from the standpoint that economists have
been taught to apply a discount rate to all future goods. For example, if I had a thousand dollars
today, I could invest it so that it would be

Environmental Ethics Essay

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Environmental Ethics Essay