Essay On Environmental Ethics

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
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Environmental Ethics
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

Ethical Enviromental Issues
Ethical Environmental Issues
SOC 120: Introduction To Ethics & Social Responsibility
01/18/10
"Ethics is the study of the choices people make regarding right and wrong" (Ruggiero, 2008).
Environmental ethics, it is more of a study about moral relationships of human beings to, and also
the value and moral status of, the environment and its nonhuman contents. Humans have been
sharing our lives with nature for many of years; we have to make many ethical decisions with
respect to the environment everyday. We have been concentrating on finding ways and ideas to
make our lives easier. Over time we have forgotten to take in the immoral consideration of what we
might be doing to our environment itself. In the past, future and even...show more content...
There are many environmental ethics at stake. The first problem was the pollution from agricultural
runoffs from acres of soybean and cattle just outside the boundaries of the Kayapo Indians. The
pollution from the headwaters of the Xingu downriver flowed down to the Kayapo Indians,
contaminating water supplies and food resources. The second issue was land invasion. "Parts of the
east bank of the Middle Xingu called KapГґtnhinore are being illegally invaded and sold. This is
creating a hostile, dangerous environment and also blocking river travel." (Goodale, 2004) The
last issue not only affects the Kayapo Indian but also affects the rainforest that they live in.
According to Goodale (2004), the Brazilian government has revived plans for several
hydroelectric dams along the Xingu River. "The proposed project would displace Kayapo from
their homes, because a loss of sustenance for those living downstream, disturb fish populations,
and damage terrestrial ecosystems" (Goodale, 2004). In a situation like this, there are many views
from both sides. Some people believe that this is just wrong to disrupt a tribe's natural way of life.
If you take the river that they solely depend this will hurt their way of living. Some people think
that proposed plan should go forward. Some believe that the dams will

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

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

"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

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 ––

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

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

Essay On Environmental Ethics

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