The Human Person in their Environment

The Human Person in their Environment

Open Ended

Why should we care about the environment?

Environmental ethics emerged from this need.

This is defined as the discipline in philosophy that studies the moral relationship of human beings to, and also the value and moral status of, the environment and its non-human contents.

Multiple Choice

What is a moral relationship?

• how much we consider the consequences of our actions on other things, including non-humans

• how much we consider the consequences of our actions on other human beings

• what is considered "right" or "wrong" human relationships

Land ethic

• guideline used by environmental ethics for how humans should act and value the land as a being that should be respected as if it were an embodied being itself

• considers an action is right if it preserves the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic (or living) community

But the problem now is: to which living beings should we extend this moral consideration?

Multiple Choice

When do we say that an object has intrinsic value?

• If it has value in and of itself

• When it is valuable only when it is useful

Multiple Choice

When do we say that an object has instrumental value?

• If it has value in and of itself

• When it is valuable only when it is useful

Multiple Choice

Money has which of the following values?

• Instrumental

• Intrinsic

Multiple Choice

Human beings have which of the following values?

• Instrumental

• Intrinsic

Knowing the value of an object can help us determine whether it should be extended moral consideration.

Open Ended

Do pet animals have intrinsic or instrumental value? Why?

What is our criteria for determining whether something has intrinsic or instrumental value only?

That is the main concern of environmental ethics.

Multiple Choice

This view believes that humans are the center of moral consideration and the only beings with intrinsic value.

• Anthropocentrism

• Panthocentrism

• Biocentrism

• Ecocentrism

Anthropocentrism

• Traditional anthropocentrism could be traced back to Judeo-Christian tradition

• Even Aristotle and Plato gave special importance to human beings

Prudential anthropocentrism, on the other hand...

• Believes that our own good [as humans] involves being concerned with other animals and the environment

• This view is concerned with how future humans will be affected by our actions

Multiple Choice

This view believes that moral consideration should be extended to higher forms of animals (including humans).

• Anthropocentrism

• Panthocentrism

• Biocentrism

• Ecocentrism

Panthocentrism

• Believes moral consideration should be extended to other intelligent animals (like dogs or cats)

• The basis for this is sentience, or the capacity to feel pain

Open Ended

What are the two main reasons animals should be extended moral consideration?

Animals should be extended moral consideration for the following reasons:

Animals are sentient beings

They can feel pain, just like humans. "In suffering, animals are our equals," according to Peter Singer.

Animals have intrinsic value

They are considered as end in and of themselves and are not only there as a means to our ends; they don't lose value if we don't find a use for them.

In the same way that we humans have a duty to not inflict harm on fellow humans, we also have a duty to not inflict harm on animals.

Multiple Choice

This view extends moral consideration not only to intelligent animals and humans, but to plants as well.

• Anthropocentrism

• Panthocentrism

• Biocentrism

• Ecocentrism

Biocentrism

• Puts biodiversity as the center of moral consideration

• Paul Taylor believed that every living being should be allowed to mature to fulfill its telos (as defined by Aristotle)

• To interfere with an organism's process in fulfilling its telos is immoral

Biocentrism

• Kenneth Goodpaster extended the meaning of sentience beyond the capacity to feel pain; it is also a means of attaining a living thing's goal, which is to be alive.

Multiple Choice

This view regards the whole ecosystem as the center of moral consideration.

• Anthropocentrism

• Panthocentrism

• Biocentrism

• Ecocentrism

Ecocentrism

Unlike the other perspectives, where all living things are seen as just members of the ecosystem which should compete for importance, ecocentrism believes in the importance of the whole ecosystem as a living being itself.

Ecocentrism

According to J. Baird Callicott: “A species is what it is because it has adapted to a niche in the ecosystem. The whole, the system itself, thus, literally and quite straightforwardly shapes and forms its component parts.”

Multiple Choice

With this in mind, ecocentrism is a more _____ view of morality.

• Individualistic

• Communal

Ecocentrism is expression of respect for all life.

Respect for human life is only a subset of respect for life.

The species as a whole has more intrinsic value than an individual of that species.

Open Ended

Which perspective of moral consideration do you agree with the most and why?