key term - Environmental Ethics

Definition

Environmental ethics is a branch of philosophy that examines the moral relationship between humans and the natural environment. It explores the ethical obligations and responsibilities we have towards the non-human world, including animals, plants, and ecosystems, in the context of contemporary philosophical discussions.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Environmental ethics challenges the traditional anthropocentric view that human beings are the only entities worthy of moral consideration and that the natural world exists solely for human benefit and exploitation.
2. A key tenet of environmental ethics is the recognition that non-human entities, such as animals, plants, and ecosystems, have inherent worth and moral status, independent of their usefulness to humans.
3. Environmental ethics explores the ethical implications of human actions and policies that impact the natural environment, including issues related to pollution, resource depletion, habitat destruction, and climate change.
4. Prominent environmental ethicists have argued for the expansion of the moral circle to include the natural world, advocating for the moral consideration of the interests of all sentient beings or the intrinsic value of ecosystems.
5. Environmental ethics is closely linked to the concept of sustainability, which emphasizes the need to balance human development and resource use with the long-term health and viability of the natural environment.

Review Questions

• Explain how environmental ethics challenges the traditional anthropocentric view of the relationship between humans and the natural world.
  • Environmental ethics challenges the anthropocentric view by arguing that non-human entities, such as animals, plants, and ecosystems, have inherent worth and moral status that extends beyond their usefulness to humans. This perspective shifts the focus from human-centered concerns to a more holistic consideration of the natural world, recognizing that the environment has intrinsic value and deserves moral consideration in its own right, not just as a means to human ends.
• Describe how environmental ethics is connected to the concept of sustainability and the ethical obligations it imposes on human actions.
  • Environmental ethics is closely linked to the principle of sustainability, which emphasizes the need to balance human development and resource use with the long-term health and viability of the natural environment. From an environmental ethics perspective, this means that we have a moral obligation to ensure that our actions and policies do not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This includes considerations of resource depletion, pollution, habitat destruction, and climate change, and the need to adopt more sustainable practices that minimize our environmental impact and preserve the natural world for the future.
• Analyze how the expansion of the moral circle to include the natural world, as advocated by some environmental ethicists, challenges traditional moral frameworks and requires a re-evaluation of our ethical responsibilities.
  • The expansion of the moral circle to include the natural world, as advocated by some environmental ethicists, challenges traditional moral frameworks that have been primarily focused on human beings and their interests. This shift requires a re-evaluation of our ethical responsibilities and the consideration of the interests and intrinsic value of non-human entities, such as animals, plants, and ecosystems. It challenges the anthropocentric view that the natural world exists solely for human benefit and exploitation, and calls for a more holistic and ecocentric approach to ethics that recognizes the inherent worth of the environment and the need to protect and preserve it for its own sake, not just for human purposes. This re-evaluation of our ethical obligations has significant implications for how we approach issues related to environmental protection, resource use, and sustainable development.

Related terms

Anthropocentrism:

The view that human beings are the central or most significant entities in the world, and that all other things (including the environment) are to be evaluated in terms of their relation to human beings.

Ecocentrism:

The belief that the natural world has intrinsic value and that the environment as a whole should be the focus of moral concern, not just individual organisms or human interests.

Sustainability:

The principle of meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, often in the context of environmental protection and resource management.