Transcript leopold
The Land Ethic Aldo Leopold Dr. Green Ethical Community • How are these borders determined? • Narrow Borders – Odysseus could hang his slaves because they were his property • Wider Borders – Slavery is no longer considered ethical • How Wide Should the Borders be Drawn? What Is Ethics? • Philosophically – a differentiation of social from anti-social conduct • Ecologically – limitations on freedom of action in the struggle for existence Evolutionary Change • Free-for-all competition replaced with cooperation as individuals develop interdependencies – Biological symbioses Stages of Evolution • Relations of individuals – Code of Moses • Relations within society – Individual to society in the Golden Rule – Society to individual in democracy • Relations to nature – Still treated as property Assumptions of Ethics • that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts – Instincts tell one to compete for a place in the community – Ethics tells one to cooperate Land Ethic • The land ethic enlarges the boundaries of the community to include – – – – Soils Waters Plants Animals The Biological Pyramid • Members – – – – – Predators Birds and rodents Insects Plants Soil • Relationships—food chains – Stability from highly organized webs of connections – Energy flows • Evolution – Slow Status of Humans • Two views – Conqueror of the land-community • Land is commodity • Self-interest is primary – A member and citizen of it who must respect to total community • Land is a biotic systems with economic and noneconomic elements Humans • Division found in – Forestry – Wildlife management – Agriculture Why Humans Must Change • Conquering is self-defeating • The conqueror claims to know – what makes the community work – what and who is valuable – what and who is worth-less • It always turns out that he knows neither, and this is why his conquests eventually defeat themselves. – Systems are too complex to be known fully Need for a Land Ethic • Most members of the land community have no economic value • Without economic value, they are not considered in our calculations – Fabricate economic value—songbirds – Eradication of • predators—wolf • Noncommercial trees • Entire biotic communities—bogs, marshes etc. • Those that are eliminated are needed for the healthy functioning of the ecosystem Civilization and Environment • Environment sets the possibilities or civilizations – Kentucky and bluegrass – Southwest • With livestock progressive erosion • With plants and irrigation, the Pueblo culture • Plant succession constrains civilizations Ecological Health • Consists in the capacity for self-renewal Human Intervention • Changes are induced too rapidly • Changes produce unpredicted and often untraceable readjustments • Depletion of – Energy storage, i.e., soil – Cover—erosion – Water Problems • Can the land adjust? – Yes • Western Europe • Japan • Northeast US – No • • • • Asia Minor North Africa South America Southwest US Problems • Can less intrusive means be developed? – Keep populations below the carrying capacity – The less violent the man made changes, the greater the probability of successful readjustment in the pyramid. – Violence, in turn, varies with human population density • A dense population requires more violent conversion. Requirements of a Land Ethics • Organisms have a right to continue • Preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community Alternatives • Government regulation – Problems become too large, too complex, or too widely dispersed to be performed by government. • Private self-interest – Conservation has failed to conserve • Land Ethic – An ethical obligation on the part of the private owner is the only visible remedy for these situations. Impediments to a Land Ethics • Improper education – Ecological training is scarce • Outgrowing the land Jared Diamond Collapse • Causes of collapse – Environmental damage – Climate change – Hostile neighbors – Interdependencies – Social response Environmental Damage • • • • • • • • • • Deforestation Soil exhaustion Water scarcity Over-exploiting resources Environmental impact Introduction of new species Over-population Environmental toxicity through pollution Induced climate change Energy shortage Future Problems • Natural resource problems – Habitat exhaustion – Food – Ecological diversity – Soil exhaustion • Pollution – Chemical – Alien species Future Problems • Ceilings – Energy – Water – Photosynthetic capacity • Population – Size – Impact