Environmental Ethics and Philosophy

1. Environmental Ethics and Philosophy Chapter 2 Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

2. Outline: • Introduction • Ethical Principles • Values, Rights and Obligations • Worldviews • Environmental Justice • Science and the Scientific Method • Technology Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

3. INTRODUCTION • Ethics is a branch of: • Morals: Distinction between right and wrong • Values: Ultimate worth of actions or things • Environmental ethics deals with the moral relationships between humans and the surrounding world. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

4. Ethical Principles • Universalists - Assert fundamental principles of ethics are universal, unchanging, and eternal. • Relativists - Claim moral principles are always relative to a particular person, society, or situation. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

5. Ethical Principles • Nihilists - Claim morality is arbitrary thus there is no reason to behave morally. • Utilitarians - Believe an action is right that produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

6. Modernism and Postmodernism • Most of modern, Western worldview is based on Enlightenment period. Inevitable outcome of an understanding of the world would be moral progress and universal justice. • Experiences of the 20th century have led to a cultural despair. From a postmodern perspective, our perception of nature is an ever-shifting, arbitrary social construction. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

7. Values, Rights, and Obligations • Moral Agents - Beings capable of acting morally or immorally, and who can accept responsibility for their acts. • Humans • Moral Subjects - Beings who are not moral agents, but who have moral interests and can be treated rightly or wrongly. • Children • Moral Extensionism - Widening definition of who is considered ethically significant. • Animal Rights Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

8. Intrinsic and Instrumental Value • Intrinsic (Inherent - Innate) - Worth or value simply because of existence. • Humans • Instrumental (Conferred) - Worth or value only because they are valued by someone who matters. • Tools Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

9. WORLDVIEWS • Anthropocentric - Human-centered. • Genesis 1:28 • Stewardship - Custodian of resources. • Indigenous peoples • Biocentricism - All living things have intrinsic value. • Ecocentricism - Whole is more important than the parts. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

10. Ecofeminism • Ecofeminists argue most philosophers came from a patriarchal system based on domination and duality. • Contend domination, exploitation, and mistreatment of women, children, minorities, and nature are intimately connected and mutually reinforcing. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

11. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE • Environmental Justice combines civil rights and environmental protection to demand a safe, healthy environment for all people. • People of color around the world are subjected to a disproportionately high level of environmental health risks. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

12. Environmental Justice • Toxic Colonialism - Targeting poor communities of color in poor areas / countries for waste disposal and / or experimentation. • Native American Reservations • Moving operations to countries where environmental regulations are lax. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

13. SCIENCE • Science - Provides an orderly, methodical approach to investigating phenomena while suggesting testable explanations for those phenomena. • Assumes the world is knowable, and that systematic investigations can yield meaningful insights. • Parsimony - When two competing explanations appear equally plausible, accept the simpler one. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

14. Science • Deductive Reasoning - Starts with a general principle and proceeds to a specific case. • Inductive Reasoning - General principles are inferred from examination of specific cases. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

15. Scientific Theory Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

16. Hypothesis vs. Theory • Hypothesis - A provisional explanation that can be falsified by further investigation. • When tests support hypothesis, it is only considered provisionally true. • Scientific Theory - Hypothesis supported by multiple experiments and a majority of experts. • Not casual everyday “theory” Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

17. Descriptive vs. Interpretative Science • Interpretative - Ideas and explanations tested indirectly by looking at historical evidence or natural experiments. • Descriptive - In some cases it is impossible or unethical to perform deliberate experiments on organisms or environments, thus simply describing the ecology can be valuable. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

18. Paradigms • Most research is based on commonly shared paradigms - models that provide a framework for interpreting results. • Eventually, anomalies and contradictions of paradigms arise and build. • Typically new generations of scholars challenge old paradigms and formulate new Hypotheses and Theories leading to new Paradigms. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

19. Technology • For past two centuries, central tenet of Western culture has been a strong faith in progress. • Technology allows mistakes to be made faster and on a larger scale than before. • Appropriate Technology - Promotes machines and approaches suitable for local conditions and cultures. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

20. Summary: • Introduction • Ethical Principles • Values, Rights and Obligations • Worldviews • Environmental Justice • Science and the Scientific Method • Technology Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

21. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.