Transcript Chapter 2 Environmental Ethics

Chapter 2
Students will understand many of the
contributing factors involved with
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environmental science
I. Environmental Ethics and Philosophy
• A. General Information
– 1. Concerned with morals and values
• a. Distinction between right and wrong
• b. The ultimate worth of the environment
– 2. Environmental Ethics
• a. Moral relationship of humans with animals on earth
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I. Environmental Ethics and Philosophy
• B. Universal Ethical Principles (?)
– 1. Universalists
• a. The fundamental principles of ethics are universal,
unchanging, and eternal (Plato)
– 2. Relativists
• a. Moral principles are relative to a particular person
• b. no absolute principles exist
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I. Environmental Ethics and Philosophy
• B. Universal Ethical Principles (?) [cont]
– 3. Nihilists
• a. The world makes no sense
• b. Everything is arbitrary
• c. Use instinct to exist
– 4. Utilitarians
• a. Greatest good for the greatest number of people
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b. Later Backgrounds
added: ‘for the longest time’
I. Environmental Ethics and Philosophy
• C. Values, Rights, and Obligations
– 1. Moral agents are human beings
– 2. Moral subjects are children
– 3. Moral extensionism expands the ethically
significant
– 4. Animal rights
– 5. Intrinsic values (inherent values)
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I. Environmental Ethics and Philosophy
• C. Values, Rights, and Obligations (cont)
– 6. Instrumental values (someone considers them
worth something)
– 7. Should plants and animals have standing
(legally)?
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II. World Views and Ethical Perspectives
• A. Humanism and Anthropocentrism
– 1. Anthropocentrism is where humans are viewed
as more important than any other species
– 2. Stewardship is the responsibility to manage and
care for a particular place
• a. indigenous people (practice this concept)
• b. farmers (share this belief)
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II. World Views and Ethical Perspectives
• B. Biocentrism, Animal Rights, and
Ecocentrism Views
– 1. Biocentric (life-centered) claims all living
organisms have intrinsic values and rights
• a. Some believe every individual animal has rights
– 2. Ecocentric (ecologically centered) claims moral
values and rights for ecological processes and
systems,
whole is considered more important
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than its individual parts
III. Environmental Justice and Investigation
• A. General Concepts
– 1. Combines civil rights with environmental
protection to demand a safe, healthy, life-giving
environment for everyone
• B. Dumping across borders
– 1. Targeting poor communities/countries for waste
dumping sites
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Called toxic
colonialism
III. Environmental Justice and Investigation
• C. Science as a way of knowing
– 1. Parsimony is where an explanation of an
unknown phenomena should first be attempted in
terms of what we already know
– 2. Inductive reasoning or bottom-up attempts to
infer general principles from specific cases
– 3. Deductive reasoning is using a series of logical
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steps
to explain
a phenomena
III. Environmental Justice and Investigation
• C. Science as a way of knowing (cont)
– 4. Hypothesis is a possible/provisional explanation
that may be supported by scientific discovery
– 5. Scientific Theory develops from an explanation
that is supported by a large number of tests and
many experts agreeing on the results over time
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III. Environmental Justice and Investigation
• C. Science as a way of knowing (cont)
– 6. Scientific Method is the basis for scientific
discovery
•
•
•
•
a. Observation
b. Methodical Testing
c. Interpretation/ Analysis
d. Retesting
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