PHIL 207 Environment

What are the two types of value

Intrinsic, instrumental

What is intrinsic value

Something has value in and of itself

What are the arguments for intrinsic value

Something has the ability to ration and self reflect, has a soul, made by God, can feel pain/pleasure, has basic preferences (like not dying), has teleological goals

What is an example of something that has intrinsic value

A human

What is instrumental value

Something has value only relative to something/someone else

What is an argument for instrumental value

The value is not in the thing, but in how we use the thing

What is an example of instrumental value

Humans have value because they can generate labor for a factory worker

What do Kant and other philosophers say gives us intrinsic value

Our ability to ration and value things

Most people say humans have what kind of value

Intrinsic and instrumental

What are the views on who/what has value

Anthropocentrism, biocentrism, holism

What is anthropocentrism

Only humans have intrinsic value (because they were made in God’s image or they can ration)

What view on value is longstanding in Western tradition

Anthropocentrism

What question does anthropocentrism raise

Which humans have value? All living ones? Only present ones or future generations too?

What is biocentrism

All living beings have intrinsic value (due to sentience, preferences)

What are the two forms of biocentrism

Egalitarian biocentrism, hierarchical biocentrism

What is egalitarian biocentrism

Thinking all living things have the same intrinsic value

What is hierarchical biocentrism

Some living things have more intrinsic value than others

How does biocentrism tie into ethics

Utilitarianism may apply to humans and non humans

What question does biocentrism raise

Why don’t non-living things have intrinsic value

What is holism

Humans, living things, and non-living things all exist in ecological systems that function together, therefore they all have intrinsic value

What ideas of selecting values apply to the views of who has value

Value monism, value pluralism

Recently, courts have been tasked with answering if the right to __________ is a basic human right

A livable environment

What would be the advantage of having a basic right to a livable environment

More grounds to hold companies accountable for polluting the environment

What is the biggest thing harming the environment

Capitalism

Why is capitalism a threat to the environment

Egoism undermines interdependent needs, views nature as a resource instead of having moral value

Why is a strictly economic approach harmful to humans

It is not compatible with the environment because we live in interdependent natural and human systems

What are specific problems with capitalism and the environment

Tragedy of the commons, externalities, free rider

What is tragedy of the commons

Egoistic competition leads to people using up shared resources and the environment

What are externalities

Unintended byproducts of business that hurt others (like pollution)

What is the free rider effect

When people benefit from others’ efforts but don’t do their part (like companies being stringent on pollution while others don’t care)

What is the argument behind polluting industries being held accountable for keeping the environment clean

They are the ones producing pollution

What is the argument being accountable for keeping the environment clean

Their demand is for products is why businesses end up polluting

What is the argument behind government being responsible for keeping the environment clean

They are supposed to work on behalf of citizens

What are the approaches government can use to maintain a clean environment

Regulatory/punitive approach, incentive/rewards approach

What is the regulatory/punitive approach

Government sets policy and prosecutes violators

What are the advantages of the regulatory/punitive approach

3rd party specialists create policy to hold organizations and citizens accountable with our best interest in mind

What are the disadvantages of the regulatory/punitive approach

At the mercy of whoever holds political power, can lead to universal policies that don’t take into account unique situations

What is the incentive/rewards approach

Rewards companies for polluting less

What are the advantages of the incentive/rewards approach

Doesn’t punish but instead rewards, allows for more flexibility

What are the disadvantages of the incentive/rewards approach

Polluters will treat pollution as something they can do as long as they can pay for it, ends up being like paying a bad actor to stop acting poorly

What does the economic argument say we should do about pollution

Because Americans are egoistic, the only way to regulate pollution is to make it capitalistic

What are the steps of regulating pollution according to the economic argument

Identify the cost of a practice, set a limit for the practice, then allow companies to trade credits to perform the practice within limits

What is an example of the economic argument tackling pollution

Pollution permits

What is steady state capitalism

Capitalism practiced with an anti-growth imperative

What are the steps of steady state capitalism regulating pollution

Resources are capped and regulated in advance at a sustainable threshold, capitalists are tasked to be innovative and competitive within the limits, products that provide more sustainable ways of living are of value

Capitalism relies on what kind of cost-benefit analysis

Strictly economic egoist

Capitalism ignores what kind of costs in cost-benefit analysis

Social and environmental

Factoring in social and environmental costs in cost-benefit analysis requires what kind of point of view

Utilitarian