MODERN ETHICS

types of ethical thought were advanced during the modern period.

first system of ethics (both for individual action and for social policy
ing) called utilitarianism, : John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
onsidered happiness (or pleasure) as the main principle according to which every
uman action should be judged for its morality.
is, if an action causes the maximum happiness for the maximum numb
eople, then it is moral.
tarianism judges not only individual action but it became one of the mo
ked principle for social planning as well.
tarianism, with its emphasis on happiness, is today applied also in anim
cs.
e animals can feel pleasure and pain, though imperfectly in comparison
ans, harming them is said to be unethical, as the Australian ethicist Pet
er argues.
 t powerful ethical theory was that of Immanuel Kant.
Kant
argued that morality should be grounded not on happiness but on reason.
ethical theory is called ‘deontology’’ because it is expressed in terms of ration
es (deon=duty)
which we are always obliged to fulfil as long as we are rational human beings.
has a few such rational formulas of obligation, the most famous of which is:
You should always treat humanity in your person and in the person of others as always an
end in itself and never solely as a means.”
t is, a person should never be treated as means to achieve anything else, (no
n for the sake of the most hallowed goal) for a rational human person is an
in herself/himself.
hing else is required, not even God, to justify her/his dignity.
should remember that Kant’s ethics is the foundation for modern human
ts movements and the whole talk about individual rights.
cannot deny the contribution of deontology in these fields.
Kant’s ethics has done severe damage to the environment.
harply distinguished between human beings and other entities.
lty to an animal is bad not because there is intrinsically anything wrong
t it (for only cruelty to humans is intrinsically wrong), but because it m
nd us of cruelty to members of our own species.
s is strictly species-specific.
an ethical theory was the crowning point of the modernist picture of t
erse
erything is intelligible and ethical only in accordance with the human pe
ything else is there to help improve the human condition; but to the ot
an person we are bound by ethical duty.
 HUMAN CENTRISM
n centrism is figuratively similar to the heliocentric view of the universe.
being in the world revolves around the human being and is pulled towards t
, as if by an unseen centripetal force.
worldview is the problem when we consider environmental philosophy.
we access our world through our consciousness, there is nothing radically
g in saying that the human subject produces the objective world.
world
is no other way we can access the world.
orld is a representation of our consciousness.
objectivity of phenomena arises from the subject’s mental makeup and his/h
n.
structures are universal among all human beings.
ence, modern western philosophy thinks of the subject as the basis of the
ts of the world, and their certainty.
r sciences and all the storehouse of our knowledge arises from the subject.
 onmental ethics is addressing many practical and theoretical issues
ved in human-environment
environment interaction.
basic aims of environmental ethics are :
oid unnecessary exploitation of environmental components like rivers,
ts, mountains, deserts, oceans, mines.
oid killing animals, birds and insects.
op destructing natural herbs, shrubs, and other medicinal plants.
nserve environment by making human beings responsible and commit
rds their surroundings.
ake laws regarding all these, and make human beings responsible for th
ect
onounce environment exploitation a punishable offence
suggest varying lengths of imprisonments according to the gravity of th
age done to the environment, or its components.
go back to the past, how human being have looked at nature?
ure might have been inscrutable and humans must have looked at natu
awe and fear.
ous natural laws and phenomena might not have been comprehended
nd it is this incomprehensibility, which was the source of fear.
man must have tried to propitiate nature.
humans expressed their gratitude to nature because nature appeared
r source of survival.
humans also felt totally helpless and powerless before nature.
ure was to be propitiated, kept satisfied and kept in good humour.
y mythologies and rituals of indigenous cultures have grown around th
ngs of nature.
n seers and sages tried to unravel the mysteries of nature, nature appe
all its grandeur.
umans understood more and more' the interconnectedness of nature,
tural phenomena did not disappear and the sages composed countless
ns.
re was worshipped, nature was respected and nature was revered.
re was also prayed to be bounteous to humans and other animals.
ans also began to understand that they constitute only a part of web o
he same life force permeates all living beings.
any indigenous cultures and ancient civilizations there was a belief that
ent beings are connected to each other.
s an integral part of some cultures not to distinguish even between
ates and inanimate.
found unity in the universe.
 ons like Hinduism and Buddhism shared the same ethics.
nduism prayers invoked peace to water, peace to earth, peace to
lant kingdom and peace to the cosmos.
o found existence of the creator from the tiniest to the mightiest organ
e story of Prahllad existence of god was shown in a piece of wood also.
r the karmic continuum of Buddhism:
all male creatures have at one time been our father, they all should be
ded as our father
ince all female creatures have at one time been our mother, they shou
garded as our mother.
ch life they have been the ones who have given birth to us.
efore, all living things can be regarded as our father and mother.
e killing any creature amounts to killing of our parents and eating out o
!'
hism emphasizes loving kindness and compassion for all
ures - small and great, visible and invisible, born and yet to be born.
all major events of Buddha's life were connected with trees and
s, they have special place in Buddhist religion.
and forests are to be showered with special love and affection. Buddhi
ts to shun extravagance and advocates a simple lifestyle.
ourages the householder to collect his/her livelihood just as a bee colle
r from a flower.
ee does not cause any harm to the flower, does not in any way diminis
ance or the beauty of the flower.
 Buddhist ethics, there is no hierarchy among the animals
though humans are in a pre-eminent
eminent position to strive towards Nirvana, yet
t superior to any.
o not enjoy any right to kill.
e other hand they have a duty to protect all other entities.
onnectedness and interdependence constitutes the cornerstone of the Budd
ophy and that is the fundamental ethic of deep ecology.
material fulfillment, it avoids extremes, extreme of deprivation and extreme
ive indulgence.
iji echoes the same sense when he says that earth has enough to meet
body's need, but not everybody's greed.
ddhism crossed borders, this ethic of simple living or voluntary simplicity als
d borders.
rrival of Christianity, a fundamental shift took place.
ethic was enunciated.
umans occupied the center stage.
 his a new ethic or gross materialism and hedonism was created.
ith the spread of colonialism, this ethic also was spread to all corners o
orld.
nature is not be feared and no more it is to be revered or worshipped.
umans and nature relationship got fundamentally altered.
e is now to be tamed, subjugated, exploited or to use of words of Franc
, 'nature is to be hounded to yield its secrets'
e is now to be vanquished and to be conquered.
we say conquest of Everest?
r than considering itself as an integral part of nature, and that too an
esimally small part of nature, humans declared a sort of war on nature.
industrial revolution progressed, science and technology took the cen
and humans got separated from nature.
 ith the advent of capitalism, the individual and not the
unity became the focal point.
ial acquisition and maximization of profit became the be-all
be and end-al
onder, therefore, smoke stacks became symbols of progress and
rnization.
ns got intoxicated with science and technology which was used to unlo
steries of nature.
at was the infatuation with the technology that humans declared that,
u environment flowing with milk and honey is more dangerous than a
ed environment,
the former will degenerate humans to tilt status of lotus eaters, while
will spur them to be constantly creative solving problems with new
ology which may create some problems requiring still newer technolog
the new problem And it will go on.
 e ancient Indian tradition
an is viewed as a part of nature. Its philosophy, science, & values, etc.
ave always had reverence for all that exists in nature.
nature and other creatures including human beings belong to
family.
ce it is called vasudhaiva kutumbakam,
kutumbakam
e. all that is alive, from plants to human species, belongs to a single fam
man beings are the finest creation of the reality.
ity itself is considered as a divine being:
being which includes the entire universe including manifestation of all
eings.
ce it is this divine principle that provides the foundation to the
mative and the natural relationship among the beings.
 tself is a mystery.
this mystery could be associated with the metaphysical basis of unity
ween man and the nature.
ndian tradition has emphasized this aspect of the relationship between
and nature.
nature is seen not as mere means of the existence but it is the source o
enance and happiness.
metaphysical bond shows a harmony between man and the nature.
notion of harmony provides a normative condition to man and nature
ionship.
normatively represents not only the unity but also the hierarchy of mor
rs that prevails in reality.
moral orders refers to the natural rights that we conform to various livi
gs, for example, the laws of jungle.
 ture had not evolved the way it has evolved, there would have been no

at all the existence of nature such as mountains, rivers, oceans, animal

plants are therefore sacred.
e Vedas and the Upanishads of Indian tradition:
atural objects whether living or non-living
living were treated as being pervaded by the
me spiritual power.
may thus understand Indian culture as having special affinity with its
ral surroundings.
special bond according to Blackstone could be called metaphorically as
ily of nature’
principle of love is fundamentally different from talk about rights, utilit
al welfare, social justice. The ethical metaphor here is not the “family of
” but the “family of nature.
 notion of family here is applicable not just to all mankind, but to the
le creation, including environment.
this is exactly what Indian culture has been prescribing and practicing
e the times of Vedas.
common rituals of Vedic India are permeated with this notion:
t Earth is just not the planet that supports our existence but our mothe
he Mother Earth, that gives birth and nourishes us throughout our life.
arva Veda maintains that:
earth is full of variety; it contains people speaking different dialects and
ech, of diverse religious customs, each living according to what they thin
ght. The earth contains innumerable valuable things.
ears trees and plants of great diversity. We should pay homage to that
h
en we look into the history of traditional Indian socio-religious
socio practice
find that even the routine life of an average individual is permeated wit
principle.
example, the Tulsi (Basil), bela plant are revered and worshipped in
st of the Indian households.
bela bears fruit of great curative value and it is useful in a large numb
iseases.
vetasvatara Upanishad,, this reverence is expressed:
e God who is in fire, who is in water, who pervades the whole universe,
o is in medicines, who is in vegetation, we salute that God.”
God.
 modality of this reverence which Vedic tradition holds for flora, it also
ntains that for fauna.
civilization and culture are not two aspects of Indian life.
every phase of its development, Indian culture showed an exemplary
ermingling of these two.
ery thing is sacred by virtue of its own nature because energy
vades everything, thus the lofty tree is worshipped as well as the
mble grass on which we sit and the one that helps ignite the fire: a
d each one play their role in the cosmic symphony
 s, we may see that in Vedic India the message of peace and tolerance was
ached by the rishis to the general public to maintain harmony.
notion of harmony makes room for other creatures to have certain natural
ts.
the human beings on the other hand-- -- must like a responsible life.
mode of living with the other must inculcate tolerance and reverence to the
er creatures in the environment or the nature as a whole
notion of human tolerance, care responsibility etc. which are bestowed on t
man are regarded as spiritual qualities.
divine spirituality needs to be practiced.
Vedic Indian tradition tries to uphold its philosophy that casts an influence o
aspect of environmental awareness.
Gicu Gabriel Arsene notes,
du dogma teaches that Vishnu is present in everything that surrounds us, an
efore, everything has a divine nature. The Law of Karma, or the Law of cause
effect, governs the evolution of the soul through successive reincarnations.
ure must be respected, as its components embody divine manifestations and
ts in different stages of spiritual evolution. The divine is omnipresent
cause of this spiritualistic tendency, Indian culture regards universe as
anifestation of Divine Reality.
e traditional Indian thought is seeped with its metaphysical notions .
hether it is something as abstract as epistemology, or as practical as
vironmental awareness, all the assumptions come down from the kind
etaphysical premises adopted by the Indian culture on a broader level.
such a scenario, the universe is not considered something like a matter
upted billion of years ago as scientific tradition of the west maintains, b
egarded as the manifestation of the supreme being.
e divine is present everywhere, in every little grain of the universe.
universe
is omnipresent. And nature is the most overt of all of its mode of
pressions.