Lecture 8: Environmental Ethics
Announcements
-Commentary #3 will be returned on Thursday, Nov. 14
-Deadline for commentary #4 is extended to Tuesday, Nov. 19
-Be sure to pick up solutions to midterm quiz
Trees
-Case 44, p. 342-3
-Traffic on Forest Drive, a two-lane road has doubled in the last
2 years
-In each of the last 7 years, at least one person has died as a
result of crashing into trees near the roadside
-Widening the road will require cutting down 30 healthy old trees
Trees
-The plan meets with protest
-“These accidents are the fault of careless drivers. Cutting down trees to protect drivers from their own carelessness
symbolizes the destruction of our natural environment for the sake of human
‘progress.’ It’s time to
turn things around. Sue the drivers if they don’t
drive sensibly.”
Intrinsic vs. Instrumental Value
-One way of navigating the dispute over whether to cut down the
trees is by asking what has intrinsic moral value? (See p. 211)
People?
Animals?
Plants?
Four Broad Approaches to
Ethics
1. Anthropocentric Ethics:
Only humans have intrinsic
moral value
2. ‘Animal Liberation’ Ethics:
Only animals have intrinsic
moral value
3. Biocentric
Ethics
Only living things have
intrinsic moral value
4. Ecocentric
Ethics:
Only natural things and
systems have intrinsic moral value
Do animals have intrinsic
moral value?
"If a man shoots his dog because the animal is
no longer capable of service, he does not fail in his duty to the dog, ... but his act is inhuman and damages in himself
that humanity which it is his duty to show towards mankind. ... We can judge
the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." (Immanuel Kant, 205-6)
What is Kant saying here?
APEGN
1. A professional engineer
or geoscientist shall recognize that professional ethics are founded upon
integrity, competence and devotion to service and to the advancement of human
welfare. This concept shall guide the conduct of the professional engineer
or geoscientist at all times.
New Animal Cruelty Legislation
-Bill C-10 (formerly Bill C-15b) is currently before
the Senate
-Will create a new part of the Criminal Code entitled
“Cruelty to Animals”
-Currently provisions in the Code re. cruelty to animals are found under Wilful and Forbidden
Acts in Respect of Certain Property
-“This clarifies the policy of the law: because
of their capacity to feel pain, animals should be protected from intentional
cruelty, regardless of whether they are property or not.” (from the notes on the Bill)
Do animals have intrinsic
moral value?
-Peter Singer’s case in favour (p.
222)
-Moral versus Factual
Equality
"Equality is a moral ideal,
not a simple assertion of fact."
What is the Basis of Moral Equality?
-''The question is not, Can they reason?
nor Can they talk? But, Can they suffer?”
Based on Bentham
-"If a being suffers, there can be no moral justification
for refusing to take that suffering into consideration ... the principle
of equality requires that its suffering be counted equally with the like
suffering - in so far as rough comparisons can be made - of any other being."
Speciesism
- "The racist violates the
principle of equality by giving greater weight to the interests of members
of his own race, when there is a clash between their interests and the interests
of those of another race. Similarly, the speciesist
allows the interests of his own species to override the greater interests
of members of other species."
The Case for an Ecocentric
Ethic
-Aldo Leopold (1887-1948)
- A Sand County Almanac (1949)
-“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…” (p. 223)
A Sentiment-Based View of Ethics
Q: Why do we have the concept of right and wrong?
A: Because they are evolutionarily successful
concepts.
Why believe that?
The survival and success of human beings, as a
species, depends on our ability to cooperate. Hence, evolution has 'designed'
us to care for one another.
In effect, evolution designs us with the sentiments
on which the concepts of right and wrong are based.
A ‘Partial’ Theory of Ethics
-Ethics is thus based on
sentiment - i.e., our tendency to care for others.
-But we don't care for all
others equally. We’re partial to some rather than
others.
-The sort of sentiment evolution
'programs' us for is directed towards those in our community.
Community
-We care for those we see as being in our community.
But, the idea of who is in our community is not fixed.
-The idea behind the land ethic is that knowledge
of ecology will enlarge our sense of community even further.
-How will that work?
Our sentiment for those around us emerged because
of our mutual dependence on others.
Knowledge of ecology will show us our mutual dependence
on the other members of the ecosystems we inhabit.
The Land Ethic
The Land Ethic - "A
thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty
of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."
Does this mean you must
care as much for a cougar as you do for your family/friends?
No, Leopold saw the Land
Ethic as adding to moral obligations we already saw ourselves as having,
not canceling or replacing them.
Intrinsic Moral Value Revisited
-Which of the four broad approaches is correct?
1. Anthropocentric Ethics
2. Animal Liberation Ethics
3. Biocentric
Ethics
4. Ecocentric Ethics