ecological ethics.docx

ecological ethics.docx

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ecologicalethics

EnvironmentalEthics

FirstpublishedMonJun3,2002;substantiverevisionThuJan3,2008

Environmentalethicsisthedisciplineinphilosophythatstudiesthemoralrelationshipofhumanbeingsto,andalsothevalueandmoralstatusof,theenvironmentanditsnonhumancontents.Thisentrycovers:

（1）thechallengeofenvironmentalethicstotheanthropocentrism（i.e.,human-centeredness）embeddedintraditionalwesternethicalthinking;

（2）theearlydevelopmentofthedisciplineinthe1960sand1970s;（3）theconnectionofdeepecology,feministenvironmentalethics,andsocialecologytopolitics;（4）theattempttoapplytraditionalethicaltheories,includingconsequentialism,deontology,andvirtueethics,tosupportcontemporaryenvironmentalconcerns;and（5）thefocusofenvironmentalliteratureonwilderness,andpossiblefuturedevelopmentsofthediscipline.

1.Introduction:

TheChallengeofEnvironmentalEthics

Supposethatputtingoutnaturalfires,cullingferalanimalsordestroyingsomeindividualmembersofoverpopulatedindigenousspeciesisnecessaryfortheprotectionoftheintegrityofacertainecosystem.Willtheseactionsbemorallypermissibleorevenrequired?

Isitmorallyacceptableforfarmersinnon-industrialcountriestopractiseslashandburntechniquestoclearareasforagriculture?

Consideraminingcompanywhichhasperformedopenpitmininginsomepreviouslyunspoiledarea.Doesthecompanyhaveamoralobligationtorestorethelandformandsurfaceecology?

Andwhatisthevalueofahumanlyrestoredenvironmentcomparedwiththeoriginallynaturalenvironment?

Itisoftensaidtobemorallywrongforhumanbeingstopolluteanddestroypartsofthenaturalenvironmentandtoconsumeahugeproportionoftheplanet'snaturalresources.Ifthatiswrong,isitsimplybecauseasustainableenvironmentisessentialto（presentandfuture）humanwell-being?

Orissuchbehaviouralsowrongbecausethenaturalenvironmentand/oritsvariouscontentshavecertainvaluesintheirownrightsothatthesevaluesoughttoberespectedandprotectedinanycase?

Theseareamongthequestionsinvestigatedbyenvironmentalethics.Someofthemarespecificquestionsfacedbyindividualsinparticularcircumstances,whileothersaremoreglobalquestionsfacedbygroupsandcommunities.Yetothersaremoreabstractquestionsconcerningthevalueandmoralstandingofthenaturalenvironmentanditsnonhumancomponents.

Intheliteratureonenvironmentalethicsthedistinctionbetweeninstrumentalvalueandintrinsicvalue（meaning“non-instrumentalvalue”）hasbeenofconsiderableimportance.Theformeristhevalueofthingsasmeanstofurthersomeotherends,whereasthelatteristhevalueofthingsasendsinthemselvesregardlessofwhethertheyarealsousefulasmeanstootherends.Forinstance,certainfruitshaveinstrumentalvalueforbatswhofeedonthem,sincefeedingonthefruitsisameanstosurvivalforthebats.However,itisnotwidelyagreedthatfruitshavevalueasendsinthemselves.Wecanlikewisethinkofapersonwhoteachesothersashavinginstrumentalvalueforthosewhowanttoacquireknowledge.Yet,inadditiontoanysuchvalue,itisnormallysaidthataperson,asaperson,hasintrinsicvalue,i.e.,valueinhisorherownrightindependentlyofhisorherprospectsforservingtheendsofothers.Foranotherexample,acertainwildplantmayhaveinstrumentalvaluebecauseitprovidestheingredientsforsomemedicineorasanaestheticobjectforhumanobservers.Butiftheplantalsohassomevalueinitselfindependentlyofitsprospectsforfurtheringsomeotherendssuchashumanhealth,orthepleasurefromaestheticexperience,thentheplantalsohasintrinsicvalue.Becausetheintrinsicallyvaluableisthatwhichisgoodasanendinitself,itiscommonlyagreedthatsomething'spossessionofintrinsicvaluegeneratesaprimafaciedirectmoraldutyonthepartofmoralagentstoprotectitoratleastrefrainfromdamagingit（seeO'Neil1992andJameson2002fordetailedaccountsofintrinsicvalue）.

Manytraditionalwesternethicalperspectives,however,areanthropocentricorhuman-centeredinthateithertheyassignintrinsicvaluetohumanbeingsalone（i.e.,whatwemightcallanthropocentricinastrongsense）ortheyassignasignificantlygreateramountofintrinsicvaluetohumanbeingsthantoanynonhumanthingssuchthattheprotectionorpromotionofhumaninterestsorwell-beingattheexpenseofnonhumanthingsturnsouttobenearlyalwaysjustified（i.e.,whatwemightcallanthropocentricinaweaksense）.Forexample,Aristotle（Politics,Bk.1,Ch.8）maintainsthat“naturehasmadeallthingsspecificallyforthesakeofman”andthatthevalueofnonhumanthingsinnatureismerelyinstrumental.Generally,anthropocentricpositionsfinditproblematictoarticulatewhatiswrongwiththecrueltreatmentofnonhumananimals,excepttotheextentthatsuchtreatmentmayleadtobadconsequencesforhumanbeings.ImmanuelKant（“DutiestoAnimalsandSpirits”,inLecturesonEthics）,forinstance,suggeststhatcrueltytowardsadogmightencourageapersontodevelopacharacterwhichwouldbedesensitizedtocrueltytowardshumans.Fromthisstandpoint,crueltytowardsnonhumananimalswouldbeinstrumentally,ratherthanintrinsically,wrong.Likewise,anthropocentrismoftenrecognizessomenon-intrinsicwrongnessofanthropogenic（i.e.human-caused）environmentaldevastation.Suchdestructionmightdamagethewell-beingofhumanbeingsnowandinthefuture,sinceourwell-beingisessentiallydependentonasustainableenvironment（seePassmore1974,Bookchin1990,Norton,Hutchins,Stevens,andMaple（eds.）1995）.

Whenenvironmentalethicsemergedasanewsub-disciplineofphilosophyintheearly1970s,itdidsobyposingachallengetotraditionalanthropocentrism.Inthefirstplace,itquestionedtheassumedmoralsuperiorityofhumanbeingstomembersofotherspeciesonearth.Inthesecondplace,itinvestigatedthepossibilityofrationalargumentsforassigningintrinsicvaluetothenaturalenvironmentanditsnonhumancontents.

Itshouldbenoted,however,thatsometheoristsworkinginthefieldseenoneedtodevelopnew,non-anthropocentrictheories.Instead,theyadvocatewhatmaybecalledenlightenedanthropocentrism（or,perhapsmoreappropriatelycalled,prudentialanthropocentrism）.Briefly,thisistheviewthatallthemoraldutieswehavetowardstheenvironmentarederivedfromourdirectdutiestoitshumaninhabitants.Thepracticalpurposeofenvironmentalethics,theymaintain,istoprovidemoralgroundsforsocialpoliciesaimedatprotectingtheearth'senvironmentandremedyingenvironmentaldegradation.Enlightenedanthropocentrism,theyargue,issufficientforthatpracticalpurpose,andperhapsevenmoreeffectiveindeliveringpragmaticoutcomes,intermsofpolicy-making,thannon-anthropocentrictheoriesgiventhetheoreticalburdenonthelattertoprovidesoundargumentsforitsmoreradicalviewthatthenonhumanenvironmenthasintrinsicvalue（cf.Norton1991,deShalit1994,LightandKatz1996）.Furthermore,someprudentialanthropocentristsmayholdwhatmightbecalledcynicalanthropocentrism,whichsaysthatwehaveahigher-levelanthropocentricreasontobenon-anthropocentricinourday-to-daythinking.Supposethataday-to-daynon-anthropocentristtendstoactmorebenignlytowardsthenonhumanenvironmentonwhichhumanwell-beingdepends.Thiswouldprovidereasonforencouragingnon-anthropocentricthinking,eventothosewhofindtheideaofnon-anthropocentricintrinsicvaluehardtoswallow.Inorderforsuchastrategytobeeffectiveonemayneedtohideone'scynicalanthropocentrismfromothersandevenfromoneself.

2.TheEarlyDevelopmentofEnvironmentalEthics

Althoughnaturewasthefocusofmuchnineteenthandtwentiethcenturyphilosophy,contemporaryenvironmentalethicsonlyemergedasanacademicdisciplineinthe1970s.Thequestioningandrethinkingoftherelationshipofhumanbeingswiththenaturalenvironmentoverthelastthirtyyearsreflectedanalreadywidespreadperceptioninthe1960sthatthelatetwentiethcenturyfaceda“populationtimebomb”andaseriousenvironmentalcrisis.AmongtheaccessibleworkthatdrewattentiontoasenseofcrisiswasRachelCarson'sSilentSpring（1963）,whichconsistedofanumberofessaysearlierpublishedintheNewYorkermagazinedetailinghowpesticidessuchasDDT,aldrinanddeildrinconcentratedthroughthefoodweb.Commercialfarmingpracticesaimedatmaximizingcropyieldsandprofits,Carsonspeculates,arecapableofimpactingsimultaneouslyonenvironmentalandpublichealth.

Ontheotherhand,historianLynnWhitejr.,inamuch-citedessaypublishedin1967（White1967）onthehistoricalrootsoftheenvironmentalcrisis,arguesthatthemainstrandsofJudeo-Christianthinkinghadencouragedtheoverexploitationofnaturebymaintainingthesuperiorityofhumansoverallotherformsoflifeonearth,andbydepictingallofnatureascreatedfortheuseofhumans.White'sthesisiswidelydiscussedintheology,history,andhasbeensubjecttosomesociologicaltestingaswellasbeingregularlydiscussedbyphilosophers（seeWhitney1993,Attfield2001）.CentraltotherationaleforhisthesisweretheworksoftheChurchFathersandTheBibleitself,supportingtheanthropocentricperspectivethathumansaretheonlythingsthatmatteronEarth.Consequently,theymayutilizeandconsumeeverythingelsetotheiradvantagewithoutanyinjustice.Forexample,Genesis1:

27-8states:

“Godcreatedmaninhisownimage,intheimageofGodcreatedhehim;maleandfemalecreatedhethem.AndGodblessedthem,andGodsaiduntothem,