Ethical Issues
History When people first started to get involved in environmental ethics, the choices were based on “how does it benefit humans”. Most ethical perspectives were anthropocentric, human interests at the expense of nonhuman things. Such as clear cutting, or burning because we as humans can benefit more from the wood or the land, than the animals can benefit from it. The value of nonhuman things would depend on what the human needed the nonhuman thing for. In the early 1970’s some members of society started placing a value on nonhuman things based on the purpose in their purpose in the environment, not based on what humans need them for. Soon, society started to realize how humans were exploiting the natural environment and started to realize that humans may not be superior to other species on earth. Aldo Leopold said it best with his quote “We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect”(Leopold 1949). Aldo Leopold could easily be considered the one person who started the land conservation explosion with his writings and theories. Holmes Rolston III also argued that species protection was a moral duty (Rolston 1975). In the mid 1970 environmental ethics was gaining momentum and society was starting to take a look at what we as humans were doing to nature because of our choices. Society’s moral views towards nature were starting to shift to conservation rather than the get what we can get attitude.
Current Events The largest current event right now is the huge BP oil spill. The oil spill has leaked tens of thousands of gallons of oil into the gulf. The oil has polluted beaches, disrupted birds, fisheries and other wildlife. Some groups have boycotted BP Oil because of the damage it has done to wildlife in the gulf. In my opinion, although BP is cleaning up the oil in the gulf, their disaster is an example of their
Current Events The largest current event right now is the huge BP oil spill. The oil spill has leaked tens of thousands of gallons of oil into the gulf. The oil has polluted beaches, disrupted birds, fisheries and other wildlife. Some groups have boycotted BP Oil because of the damage it has done to wildlife in the gulf. In my opinion, although BP is cleaning up the oil in the gulf, their disaster is an example of their
References: Leopold, Aldo. Sand County Almanac. New York: Oxford University Press, 1949. Rolston, H., 1975. “Is There an Ecological Ethic?”, Ethics 85: 93-109