Environmental Ethics: Balancing Ecosystem Rights & Human Duties

1. Business and the Environment By: Ronald F. White, Ph.D. Professor of Philosophy College of Mount St. Joseph

2. History • Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962) • 1970s Environmental Movement • 1970-Environmental Protection Agency

3. Basic Philosophical Issues • Are ecosystems “persons” or “property” • If persons…what is rights do ecosystems have and what are our duties as humans? • If property…how do we respect public property rights? • Tragedy of the Commons • Two kinds of Theories • Anthropocentric Theories • Non-Anthropocentric Theories

4. Anthropocentric Theories • Humans are the Center of the Moral Universe • Only humans have intrinsic value • The Natural Environment has extrinsic value • Nature as Property • Private property • Public property • Problems: • Non-Scientific status of humans in evolutionary theory • Dismal track record for anthropocentric theories • Long-term v. Short-term Interests • Problem of Future Generations • Private Property v. Public Property • Tragedy of the Commons

5. Problem of Future Generations • Root of the Problem: Moral obligations to the least advantaged. (anthropocentric) • Do present generations have duties toward future generations? • If so, what are those duties? • How far into the future do these duties extend? 1 generation or 100 generations? • What happens when those duties conflict with our duties toward the present generation, especially the least advantaged present?

6. Non-Anthropocentric Theories • Humans are not the Center of the Moral Universe • Ecosystems have Intrinsic Value • Eastern Religions • Darwinism • Problems: • Weak Human Incentive to preserve the environment • Tendency to sacrifice poor powerless humans in the present • Weak cultural support

7. Stockholder Theory • Stockholder Theory (Market Distribution) • “When in Rome do as the Romans do.” • Act on legality not morality • Problems: • Corrupt and/or weak governments • Weak monitoring and enforcement of environmental laws, especially in developing countries

8. Stakeholder Theory • Stakeholder Theory (Social Distribution) • “When in Rome do what is right.” • Public Property-Private Property • Governmental Protection of the Environment • Problem of Future Generations • Tragedy of the Commons

9. Tragedy of the Commons • “When everyone owns it nobody owns it?” • Environmental Impact • Pollution • Resource Depletion • Extinction • Solutions • Pass Environmental Protection Laws • Problem: Monitoring and Enforcement at a Global Level • Develop Global Environmental Protection Institutions • Problems: Ineffective Global Institutions, Non-Compliance by Powerful Interests • Teach humans to Respect Public Property • Problem: Weak Public Schools (Tragedy of Commons) • Expand private ownership of the environment • Problem: Imprudent Ownership • Owners Sacrifice Long-Term Sustainability for Short-Term Gain • Ownership of Common Air and Waterways. (Flow)

10. Issues • Pollution • Air Pollution: Global Warming • Water Pollution: • Corporations • Governments • Resource Depletion • Coal • Oil • Plants and Animals • Water