Creating an Environmental Ethic

Creating an Environmental Ethic

Traditionally, Western views of environment ethics has been unclear and for the most part unnecessary. We used earth’s resources without thinking about consequence. This nonchalant use aided in the West’s ability to influence the world through technological advances. In the past, limited travel and slow communication systems had limited our view to a local one. If pollution or to much urbanization occurred the solution was to move.

Industrialization has changed things. With science advancing so quickly, the population exploding, and our environment actually being truly affected on a global scale. Within our lifetime, we can see changes in the environment. No longer do we have wild frontiers, an abundance of land for anyone’s taking. We can see our resources do have limits for example we can deplete our fossil fuels.

We need to formulate a comprehensible environmental ethic in desperation. The morality of preserving nature comes more out of a practical need than from a purely philosophical reason. We have come to time when destruction we can inflict is harsher and faster than the earth can recover. Although it should fit in seamlessly with all of our moral views, the environment is rather new territory and may be set aside form the rest. In making a code, we need to define environment, establish a basis of what we value as intrinsically good and bad, choose a principles of obligation and distribution, and see if it can be applied to real world situations.

Definition of environment

When using such a broad term as environmental ethics, it is necessary define what that entails. Environment, in this paper, deals strictly with natural habitats and ecosystems. We will not mak...

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...e environment is essential for our long term survival the measures we take have to be drastic.

Conclusion

The environmental ethics established may be faulty in philosophical reasoning, but it is ideal for practical use. Its ideal of prioritizing environmental concerns leaves clear guidelines for both bureaucrats and a citizen alike. In defining the environment before we mentioned that we view environmental concerns with humans as external factors. This is not accurate. When evaluating a situation, it is essential to take human force into account but the goal we are shooting for is a habitat minus humans. But why? Are we setting ourselves to fail from ever reaching our goals? The answer is loaded in that it is both yes and no. The notion that in reaching something beyond our means we can achieve something livable while constantly striving for improvement.