Environmental Ethics

Controlling Questions:

Control Questions

• Should we care about the future generation?
• Do mountains, plants, water, nature, Earth, environment have rights?
• Is it fair to harm environment for personal gain of human beings?

Birdsong Interpreted

Birdsong Interpreted

• In the poem “Birdsong Interpreted” by Tom Disch, the speaker is personifying the bird in a way that answers the question, if the birds could speak, then what would they speak?
• The light and humorous tone of the poem at the start shows that the birds are trying to say humans that Earth is their territory.
• The message of this poem is that the environment, and the creatures that reside in nature, are not material things that can be destroyed at will, without consequence.

A White Heron

• In “A White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett, the author glorifies nature and portrays wildlife as having an intrinsic value independent from that of what humans use it for.
• Jewett uses the contrast of a young country girl to that of a higher class hunter in order to demonstrate the significance of living as one with the nature and the human foolishness of assuming that nature exists for their own benefit.
• She uses the victory of a white heron over a hunter to demonstrate nature’s worth to be something supreme and untouched by human values.

A White Heron

The Point of No Return: Climate Change Nightmares Are Already Here

The Point of No Return: Climate Change Nightmares Are Already Here

• In an article titled, “The Point of No Return: Climate Change Nightmares Are Already Here” by Eric Holthaus, it is predicted that the worst impacts of climate change are starting to happen much faster than the climate scientists expected.
• The change in climate has not only affected the USA but also many other countries in the world. In just the past few months, record-setting heat waves in Pakistan and India each killed more than 1,000 people.
• Together let’s protect the world we love from climate change and make sure our love is felt by those who can make a world of difference.

The Sea Also Rises

The Sea Also Rises

• In an article “The Sea Also Rises”, the author, Ron Cassie, states that it is not just Maryland’s Eastern Shore islands that are in danger of disappearing beneath the surface because of global climate change and rising sea levels.
• As global temperatures continue to raise, ice in the Polar Regions and glaciers will melt, dumping tons of extra water into the ocean. Warmer water temperatures will also lead the oceans to expand. These factors will cause sea levels to increase and swamp coastal areas all over the world.
• Sea level rising is caused due to humans unethical actions towards environment.

The Oil We Eat

• According to “The Oil we Eat” by Richard Manning, vegetarianism is not as good as people believe.
• On the moral issues, vegetarians claim their habits are kinder to animals, though it is difficult to see how wiping out 99 percent of wildlife's habitat…is a kindness”.
• The author claims that because some farmers are as dedicated to making as much as a profit as possible, they “gut-shoot” the deer, hoping they will “limp off to the woods and die where they won't stink up the potato fields”.
• The main idea of the article is that the food industry is wasteful and inefficient.

The Oil We Eat

Philosophical Problems for Environmentalism

Philosophical Problems for Environmentalism

• In “Philosophical Problems for Environmentalism”, the author, Elliott Sober, tries to explore possible bases for the values implicit in the environment.
• Elliott says that the problem with environmentalism is the idea that species and ecosystem ought to be preserved for reasons additional to their own value as resources for human use.
• Environmentalism seeks to protect and conserve the elements of earth's ecosystem, including water, air, land, animals, and plants, along with entire habitats such as rainforests, deserts and oceans.

The Social Contract

The Social Contract

• “The Social Contract” by Thomas Hobbes states that social contract is the mutual transferring of rights.
• The social contract is the agreement by which individuals mutually transfer their natural right.
• Thomas Hobbes’s law of nature claims that a man is forbidden to something that is destructive to his life or takes away the means of preserving life.
• Damaging environment and increasing pollution go against the social contract as they can harm human life.

We Are What We Eat

We Are What We Eat

• Tom Regan’s “We Are What We Eat” questions how do our actions affect the earth and the other creatures with which we share it?
• Regan takes a creative approach to the discussing environmental ethics by examining the food on our plates, he questions the methods used to produce the food we eat and finds our reliance on chemical processing and monoculture practices are not only affecting our food supply but the environment around us.
• Regan expresses concern for future generations and the mess we are creating for them; he envisions them condemning us for our lack of moral will and environmental responsibility.

Pictures