Intrinsic Value in the Non-Human Natural World

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Intrinsic Value in the Non-Human Natural World

When it comes to the question of non-human rights and the value of

nature, there are adamant advocates, those who completely disagree

with particular values and rights for the ecosystem, and those could

care less. For myself, I believe I have fallen somewhat in between

these extremes and have honestly never really considered the idea of

intrinsic value and certain rights for the non-human natural world.

Singer, Baxter, Steinbock and Callicott (with the words and ideas of

Leopold) each have very different ideas about animal rights and the

concept of the non-human natural world having a value by itself,

regardless of human interests. I will briefly go over the ideas of

Baxter and Callicott and add my own views to their ideas and my

thoughts on their respective points of view.

Baxter's focus and main idea in the essay "People or Penguins" is to

say that the only value the natural world has lies in regard to how it

benefits human interests. He says that only human interests should

determine our obligations to the environment. The human interests he

specifies include freedom, avoiding waste (not for the sake of the

environment, but for human's sake), regarding others as ends rather

than means, and the each person should have the opportunity and

incentive to improve his/her life. Baxter defends his views by saying

that people truly think in these terms; it's within human interests to

preserve the environment and what's good for us is good for them; only

humans can participate in collective policy decisions and it would be

nearly impossibly to appoint someone to represent animal interests and
...

... middle of paper ...

... is good for

them. It seems that despite entirely different focuses and ideas about

the rights and value of the biotic community, Baxter and Callicott

perhaps have a bit more in common than it may seem at first glance.

As far as my own personal opinion, I seem to fall somewhere in between

the views of Baxter and Callicott. Although I do believe that the

non-human natural world does have value aside from human interests, I

also think that it is nearly impossible to measure because it's

difficult to assess what would happen to the biotic community without

humans in it. Although it is pretty safe to assume that it would

probably go on in its normal manner, because humans have been proven

to destroy it, it is impossible to ever really know for sure. Perhaps

humans serve some function that has yet to have been identified.

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