A Modern Discussion of Land-Ethics

Brett McNeill
Biology 1120
Summer 2014
!he Land Ethic" #y Aldo Leo$old re$resents a long standing desire #y conser%ationists
for indi%iduals to #e more in%ested the the en%ironment and #iotic community around them&
Leo$old ta'es care to $arallel ethics surrounding nature and ethics surrounding humans and
society& (e argues that societal and inter$ersonal ethics ha%e e%ol%ed significantly o%er the
course of human history and that ecological ethics is a natural e)tension of that& Leo$old ma'es
a careful $oint of defining the terms surrounding his argument *hen he says ecological ethics are
a limitation on freedom of action in the struggle for e)istence&" +hiloso$hically, in contrast,
ethics are a differentiation of social from anti-social conduct&" -hile the golden rule is an
e)am$le of the e%olution of the differentiation among $eo$le, there has yet to #e a similar
relation #et*een man and nature. the relationshi$ as it stands no* is solely economic, free of any
'ind of o#ligation&
/ne of the most $oignant arguments Leo$old $resents *as his lamentation of the *ay in
*hich conser%ation is $reached& (e states that the %olume of education is the only means #y
*hich most conser%ationists see' to further their efforts& !he 0uality of the education has yet to
ma'e a significant difference as referenced in his story a#out the farmers from -isconson& !he
to$soil on their land *as sli$$ing sea*ard" and e%ery effort *as made to accommodate them in
an effort to $re%ent this from occurring& !hey *ere offered free hel$ and the use of s$eciali1ed
e0ui$ment& !hey *ere e%en offered the o$$ortunity to *rite the la*s in their o*n counties
regarding the rules of land-use, *ithout success& !ime and time again the decisions made fell
s0uarely on the shoulders of economic interest& !he author goes on to say that decisions that
#enefit the community or are not clearly #eneficial to the land o*ner are outside the ru#ric of
real %alue& !his is a %ery s$ecific e)am$le, ho*e%er& /nly a small $ercentage of $eo$le o*n
enough land that the uni0ue use of theirs *ould effect the community as a *hole& Another
$ro#lem is the $er%asi%e attitude that those of us *ithout significant land holdings ha%e no hand
in the fight for conser%ation& -e 'no* the argument #ut distance oursel%es from the effects of
%iolent" use of land #ecause it doesn2t suit an economic $ur$ose& !he go%ernment, as Leo$old
sees it, is gi%en far more in com$le)ity and 0uantity of conser%ation than the go%ernment can
realistically #e e)$ected to handle, let alone handle *ell&
3n my o*n life, 3 *ould ha%e ne%er considered the *ay in *hich 3 %ie* land and it2s use
and %alue as an actual $hiloso$hy& !o ha%e a $hiloso$hy im$lies to me that some dee$,
emotional, deli#erate thoughts *ere con%ened and acted u$on regularly& But that seems much
too dismissi%e, #ecause 3 do ha%e a $hiloso$hy and it is re$resented #y the *ay 3 act, *hether
deli#erately or other*ise& 3t is re$resented #y my desire to dis$ose of trash in trash or recycle
#ins& 3t is re$resented #y my refusal to 'ill a s$ider 4ust #ecause it2s eight legs and hairy #ody
ma'e me a #it uncomforta#le& More #roadly, my $hiloso$hy re%ol%es around the #elief that
human'ind has dominion o%er the earth and the res$onsi#ility to use and care for it& !he
$hiloso$hy is definitely %ague and it is much easier for me to identify ho* to use land than
$reser%e it&
3 find it a #it difficult to 0uantify the idea that A land ethic changes the role of humans
from con0ueror of the land community to $lain mem#ers and citi1ens of it& 3t im$lies res$ect for
his fello* mem#ers, and also res$ect for the community as such"& 3 thin' the *ord that has the
most rele%ance to me $ersonally is res$ect& 3t is much easier to identify *hat a res$ectful $erson
*ould do situationally than a $erson *ho may consider themsel%es a citi1en or mem#er of a
community& A res$ectful $erson #alances their needs *ith the needs of indi%iduals around them&
A $erson *ith res$ect for their surroundings and en%ironment *ill #e a*are of the effect of their
decisions on said en%ironment& A res$ectful $erson *ill #e o$en to the idea that they may not
'no* all the factors and im$lications of their decisions and *ill therefore #e *illing to address
their future actions more deli#erately and o#4ecti%ely&
3t *as not clear to me *hen !he Land Ethic" *as *ritten 4ust #y reading it. that s$ea's
to the foresight of the author and rele%ance of his argument& 3 did not thin' it *as *ritten in the
last decade #ut much of *hat he referenced *as com$letely $ertinent to contem$orary
Americans& -hen Leo$old said !he land-relation is still strictly economic, entailing $ri%ileges
#ut not o#ligations", 3 agreed *ith some reser%ation& Modern America, *hile still em$hasi1ing
an economic #aseline, is much more concerned *ith the effect *e ha%e on our *orld and its
*ildlife& !here is also much to #e said for the idea that *e2%e made economics *or' to*ard the
end of ha%ing a land-ethic, in a sense& +eo$le #uy smaller, more efficient cars to sa%e money on
gas& Solar energy is *idely a%aila#le and recycling has #ecome the norm& 3 'no* choosing
these things as a means of sa%ing money doesn2t re$resent a land-ethic as Leo$old descri#ed it,
#ut it does identify some o%erla$$ing desires to conser%e and #e economically minded&
As it is no*, community" refers e)clusi%ely to the human inha#itants of a gi%en
geogra$hical area& 3t could also include the $retty trees and *ell maintained grass #ut it is %ery
limited in sco$e $ertaining to the o%erall #iological $resence of an area& Leo$old touched on the
idea that sim$lifying conser%ation *as ma'ing it irrele%ant and if a $erson *as to truly
understand their effect and a$$ro$riately address it, details are necessary& 5or a $erson to #e a#le
to include nonhuman mem#ers of a community as a $art of their ethic, they *ould ha%e to see
the nonhuman elements as $artners in maintaining #iotic #alance& Education is great, #ut the
critical thin'ing re0uired to connect the dots as a culture is slo*-mo%ing&
3t *ould #e %ery easy to disregard a lot of the language in Leo$old2s article on the surface
#ecause it could #e inter$reted as $lacing nature a#o%e its dominant inha#itant, humans& But 3
don2t #elie%e that is his intent at all& (e is trying to esta#lish the necessary and integral role that
all $arts of nature, including nonhumans, $lay $arts in the integrity of #iotic community& -hen
he says A thing is right *hen it tends to $reser%e the integrity, sta#ility and #eauty of the #iotic
community& 3t is *rong *hen it tends other*ise", 3 hesitate to em#race it #ecause of ho*
e)clusi%e it sounds& 3t defines right and *rong in a *ay that most $eo$le rarely if e%er thin'
a#out in that it claims that ethics should not #e e)clusi%e to humans& 3 #elie%e he means *ith this
statement to say that all life is interde$endent, not that there is a hierarchy of $riority& (e means
that a community and en%ironment *ill ada$t as it needs and that as humans *e must #e *illing
and a#le to ada$t *ith it&
!o lo%e, res$ect and admire the land and en%ironment *e li%e in means that #eauty and
duty are e0ual $artners as moti%ation to act res$onsi#ly& +eo$le, as a *hole, are much more
li'ely to associate the #eauty around them *ith the health of a #iotic community than its actual
functionality& 3n my o$inion, duty is the #ac'#one of res$ect, lo%e and admiration and #eauty is
the re*ard& 3 identify much more *ith the idea that the e)tinction of an animal *ill cause
irre%ersi#le damage to the en%ironment than the idea that a #eautiful creature *ill cease to e)ist&
Beauty does, ho*e%er, still hold a significant $lace in my heart for the im$erati%e of mindfully
esta#lishing a $resence in an en%ironment&
My land-ethic is definitely underde%elo$ed and centered around ho* a community relates
to me& 3n that sense, it is #ased in self interest, #ut that is too e)treme to claim all of my
moti%ations& 3 #elie%e the %ast ma4ority of $eo$le are not acti%ely acting in one *ay or another
for the sa'e of $reser%ing or destroying the *orld& !here is a lot of middle ground *here citi1ens
of a community are concerned *ith doing *hat is right #ut the o$$osing forces are too e)treme
to choose one o%er another& Leo$old2s references to the use of land #eing solely economic seem
to dismiss the reasons one *ould *ant to use their land to earn income, *hich are much more
su#4ecti%e than he seems *illing to admit&
An easily identifia#le $ro#lem *ith much of the discussion surrounding land use and
conser%ation and ethics is ho* alienating the language of the discussion can #e, on #oth sides& 3f
one side states they are com$letely right, the im$lication is that other side is com$letely *rong&
A discussion usually ends #efore it #egins #ecause the tone is less con%ersational than a desire to
ma'e a $oint or $ro%e the o$$osition a fool& !hat a$$lies to indi%idual and #road cultural
con%ersations ali'e& !o #e $ersuasi%e, a $erson or grou$ must thin' a#out the conte)t in *hich
their statements *ill #e recei%ed *ithin the #oundaries of their desired argument& !his is *here
Leo$old really struc' a chord *ith me& (e can2t ha%e all the ans*ers #ecause no one does& (is
*ords aren2t *holly indis$uta#le #ecause no *ords are& (e made a $oint of ac'no*ledging the
*ea'nesses of the conser%ationist discussion *ithout relin0uishing the %alue of his o$inion and
'no*ledge&
!he o%erall tone of the $iece *as more in%iting than alienating #ut there *ere instances
that *ere off-$utting #ecause of su#4ecti%e language& (e used the *ord %iolent" often in
reference to the effect of economically focused land use& 3t made com$lete sense in the conte)t
of his argument #ut it #elied the fact that %iolence #et*een man and land is a conce$tual outlier&
/ther than that, 3 did en4oy the ideas Leo$old $resented and discussed& !he en%ironment as a
single, immensely com$le) and organi1ed community ma'es sense to me& Nothing ha$$ens in
isolation& !he idea that the integrity of the #iotic community #enefits all inha#itants of said
community is truth to me& !hese ideas are not necessarily uni0ue to Leo$old2s *riting #ut he
$resents them in a *ay that doesn2t create #arriers #et*een his chosen discussion and the reader&
3 *ould argue that the com$lete fulfillment of an introduction of an idea or $resentation to a ne*
audience is that the audience thin' a#out ho* they fit in to the $ro$osed scenario& !hat is
something this $iece did for me& 3 definitely thought a#out the im$lications of my choices as
they effect those human and nonhuman mem#ers of my community& My ca$acity to see those
effects is still limited to my 'no*ledge, #ut thin'ing leads to searching, leads to disco%ering and
leads to action&