Ecological Ethics: Consumption Of Nonhuman Parts Of The Environment
Pollution The undesirable and unintended contamination of the environment by human activity such ad manufacturing, waste disposal, burning fossil fuels,etc.
Resource depletion The consumption of finite or scarce resources.
Global warming The increase in temperatures around the globe due to rising levels of greenhouse gases.
Greenhouse gases Carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and chlorofluorocarbons gases that absorb and hold heat from the sun, preventing it from escaping back into space, much like a greenhouse absorbs and holds the sun’s heat.
Ozone depletion The gradual breakdown of ozone gas in the stratosphere above us caused by the release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) into the air.
Acid rain Occurs when sulfur oxides and …show more content…
The “Last Man” argument for ecological ethics
Routley asks us to imagine a man who is earth’s last survivor
We recognize it is wrong for the last man to destroy all nonhumans
So we must recognize some nonhumans have intrinsic value apart from humans
Environmental rights
Blackstone argues humans have a right to fulfill their capacities as free and rational and a livable environment is essential to such fulfillment
So humans have a right to a livable environment which is violated by practices that destroy the environment
Such environmental rights can lead to absolute bans on pollution even when the costs far outweigh the benefits
Private cost The cost an individual or company must pay out of its own pocket to engage in a particular economic activity
Social cost The private internal costs plus the external costs of engaging in a particular economic …show more content…
Arguments against attributing rights to future generations
Future generations do not now exist and may never exist
If future generations have rights then the present must be sacrificed for the future
Because we do not know what interests future generations will have, we cannot say what rights they have
Conservation based on justice
Rawis : Leave the world no worse than we found it
Care ethic : Leave our children a world no worse than we received
Attfield : Leave the world as productive as we found it
Sustainability The capacity something has to continue to function into the
Resource depletion The consumption of finite or scarce resources.
Global warming The increase in temperatures around the globe due to rising levels of greenhouse gases.
Greenhouse gases Carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and chlorofluorocarbons gases that absorb and hold heat from the sun, preventing it from escaping back into space, much like a greenhouse absorbs and holds the sun’s heat.
Ozone depletion The gradual breakdown of ozone gas in the stratosphere above us caused by the release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) into the air.
Acid rain Occurs when sulfur oxides and …show more content…
The “Last Man” argument for ecological ethics
Routley asks us to imagine a man who is earth’s last survivor
We recognize it is wrong for the last man to destroy all nonhumans
So we must recognize some nonhumans have intrinsic value apart from humans
Environmental rights
Blackstone argues humans have a right to fulfill their capacities as free and rational and a livable environment is essential to such fulfillment
So humans have a right to a livable environment which is violated by practices that destroy the environment
Such environmental rights can lead to absolute bans on pollution even when the costs far outweigh the benefits
Private cost The cost an individual or company must pay out of its own pocket to engage in a particular economic activity
Social cost The private internal costs plus the external costs of engaging in a particular economic …show more content…
Arguments against attributing rights to future generations
Future generations do not now exist and may never exist
If future generations have rights then the present must be sacrificed for the future
Because we do not know what interests future generations will have, we cannot say what rights they have
Conservation based on justice
Rawis : Leave the world no worse than we found it
Care ethic : Leave our children a world no worse than we received
Attfield : Leave the world as productive as we found it
Sustainability The capacity something has to continue to function into the