ENVIRONMENTAL

ETHICS

Muslima P. Liwlaug
MIB 1
Environmental Ethics
Ethics = the study of good and bad, right and wrong

Ethical standards = criteria that help differentiate

right from wrong

Environmental ethics = the study of ethical

questions regarding human interactions with the
environment
Questions
There are many ethical decisions that human beings make
with respect to the environment:
Should we continue to clear cut forests for the sake of
human consumption?
Why should we continue to propagate our species, and life
itself?
Should we continue to make gasoline powered vehicles?
What environmental obligations do we need to keep for
future generations?
Is it right for humans to knowingly cause the extinction of a
species for the convenience of humanity?
How should we best use and conserve the space
environment to secure and expand life? 
Environmental Ethics
part of environmental philosophy which considers
extending the traditional boundaries of ethics from
solely including humans to including the non-human
world
it exerts influence on a large range of disciplines
including environmental law, environmental
sociology, ecotheology, ecological
economics, ecology and environmental geography
Early Environmental Ethics
• The roots of environmental ethics are ancient.

• The modern urge for environmental protection grew

with problems spawned by the industrial revolution.
 EW S
DV I
OR L
W ON
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E T H
Worldviews on Ethics
morality is one of those issues which every worldview
addresses, but which has no empirical basis for its
answers
every worldview has an approach to figuring out what
should be considered right and wrong, but the basis for
understanding it does not come from any kind of
empirically provable foundation (based on the
assumptions of the worldview itself)
Environmental worldviews are how

• people think
• the world works,
• where they fit,
• and ethics
 What are worldviews
it refers to our personal feelings about issues regarding
the environment
this includes our perspective on how the earth and its’
resources should be used
it is heavily influenced by the fundamental vision of
reality we hold, the collection of values, perceptions
and practices that organizes our lives
Environmental worldviews can be
• human-centered
• earth-centered
• or some combination of both
Basic beliefs of Human-Centered
Worldview
We are the planet’s most important species and also in
charge of the rest of nature
The earth has an unlimited supply of resources even if
there are shortages, we can find substitutes
We can solve environmental problems with our
technology
Our success on earth depends upon how well we can
understand, control and manage earth’s life-
supporting systems
The potential for economic growth is limitless and
more economic growth is always good
Limits of Human-Centered Views
We do not have enough knowledge about the earth to
become its managers
We are not aware of the total number of species on earth
much less the roles the species play in maintaining
ecosystems
Free-market system won’t save the earth because profit
maximization takes precedence over loses of earth’s capital
Human-centered views focus on short-term economic
benefits regardless of environmental consequences
Spaceship view won’t because human constructs of the earth
are often over simplified
Life and Earth-centered
Environmental Views
These viewpoints see an intrinsic value in all forms of
life, irrespective of their potential or actual uses for
humans
Nature exists not only for humans but for all the
earth’s species
Factors that influence our
worldviews
Beliefs and practices of our family and the society

Personal experiences
Nature must be experienced
Education directly to complete environmental
education.
Dominant Worldviews

Expansionist Ecological
Worldview Worldview

Sustainable
Development
Expansionist Worldview
expansionism consists of
expansionist policies of
governments and states

• some have linked the term to promoting economic

growth (in contrast to no growth / sustainable policies),
more commonly expansionism refers to the doctrine of a
nation's expanding its territorial base or economic
influence usually, though not necessarily, by means of
military aggression. 
Ecological Worldview
an all-embracing, coherent worldview that promotes
more harmonious and sustainable practices capable
of satisfying real biological, social, ecological, and
spiritual needs
Sustainable Development
development can be achieved without compromising
the environment
incorporates parts of the two worldviews
Ethical Perspective
1. Anthropocentric
2. Stewardship
3. Biocentric
4. Animal Rights
5. Ecocentric
6. Ecofeminism
Anthropocentric
Humans are placed in domination of nature and have
the right to use resources and abuse nature as we
choose.
Stewardship
Humans have the responsibility to manage and care
for nature. Humans and non-human forces must act
together in order to sustain life.
Humans are part of nature rather than masters.
Biocentrism
All living organisms have intrinsic values and rights
regardless whether they are useful or not.
 Animal Rights
Each individual organism is of
value not the group
Ecocentric
Based on the view that oneself should do everything
what support’s one’s own interest and profit
The whole is more important than its individual
parts
Only oneself has an intrinsic value
Other human and nature have instrumental value
Any action is based on one’s personal wealth
Ecofeminism
A pluralistic, nonhierarchical relationship philosophy
that suggest that humans could reconceive themselves
to nature in a non-dominating way.
Where do you
stand?
Environmental Justice
Civil rights with environmental protection to
demand a safe, healthy, life-giving environment for
everyone.
Issues of Environmental Justice

Environmental Toxic
racism Colonialism
Environmental Racism
 is placement of low-income or
minority communities in
proximity of environmentally
hazardous or
degraded environments, such
as toxic
waste, pollution and urban
decay
are competing views as to an
exact definition, the interplay
between environmental issues
and social indicators are key to
its understanding
Toxic Colonialism
refers to the use of
underdeveloped states as
inexpensive alternatives for
the export or disposal of
hazardous waste pollution
by developed states
“People have a right to what they produce
themselves, but man has another right,
declared by the fact of his existence—the right
to use of so much of the free gifts of nature as
may be necessary to supply all the wants of
that existence, and which he may use with
interference with the equal rights of anyone
else; and to this he has title against all the
world.”

Henry George, Progress and Poverty, 1874

The End.