SUST-332 (Environmental Ethics) Test 01

ethics

social rules that govern/limit our conduct

nature of moral reasoning that:

- decides what "ought" or "ought not" to do

- evaluates reasoning that is used to defend moral decision

Utilitarianism

actions are useful only if they promote the greatest good for the greatest number of people (Jeremy Bentham)

kantianism

Ethical theory by which decisions and a sense of right and wrong are based on a sense of duty...has nothing to do with personal benefits or happiness

philosophy

love of wisdom - a critical, systematic, and rational approach to fundamental issues

ethical theories

reasoning patterns about ethics that inform how we think about ethics

law vs ethics

an action can be legal, but still morally wrong

anti-dogmatism

the primary goal of philosophical ethics - to escape limitations embedded in customary ways of thinking

Rachel Carson

author of Silent Spring - their writing lead to the banning of DDT and other chemical actives because of the thinning of bird eggshells

Descriptive Ethics

describes peoples actual moral beliefs and behavior

normative ethics

tries to discover which actions and behaviors are right and wrong (should, ought)

teleological theories

an ethical system that determines the level of goodness or evil from the effect or result of an act by tallying both sides (consequentialist theories)

utilitarian terms

in regards to environmental debates, they are framed in_____

deontology

acting on principle rather than an attempt to avoid the consequences

- greek word: duty

- reminds me of kantian ethics

moral law

fundamental principle found in kantian ethics, also known as the categorical imperative

moral law formula

never treat someone simply as a "means" but always the same time as an end

persons

(Kant) something that has freedom, and can act for reasons

- dignity...therefor there is not equivalent

things

(kant) something that acts from natural causes and lacks freedom

- price: something else can put it in it's place

anthropocentrism

interpreting the world only in terms of human values

three-age system

1. Stone Age - paleolithic, Mesolithic, and neolithic periods

2. Bronze Age - copper age and bronze age

3, Iron Age

holocene extinction

extinction occurring now, mostly in rainforests

non-sustainable

how scientist categorize the present patterns of human-environmental interactions

Lynn White

historian who claimed that God's command for humans to have dominion licensed the exploitation of nature....in turn producing science and technology to satisfy wants/needs....resulting in an ecological crisis

Moncrief and White

- human ecology is influenced by beliefs about our relationship with nature and destiny

- humans have been altering the environment since the earliest times

Moncrief vs White

disagrees on the basis of:

- too simplistic "based on fad more than fact"

- not supported by the data (around the world)

Moncrief

- religion uniquely predisposes cultures to exploit natural resources with out discretion (ballpark)

*establishes broad allowable beliefs and behavior

- religion establishes rewards and negative sanctions to control human behavior

- some human activities do no develop within a religious broad system of beliefs,

- these broad beliefs do not determine the exact nature of human activities

egocentric tendencies of human beings

the desire for a better life is universal

all persons want higher status positions and more economically/socially desireable goods

French and Industrial revolutions

laid the framework for modern society as far as democracy and capitalism respectively (18th and 19th century)

french revolution

democratic political revolution that redistributed power and wealth more equitably/ (i.e. democratized it) ..moving toward modern society

industrial revolution

scientific and technological development that lead to a dramatic increase in the production of goods and services

urbanization

the movement of workers into metropolitan areas where they worked for regular wages - consequence of industrialization

maxim

a ____ that states dilutions is the solution to pollution does not withstand the test of time, for the population is increasing at too high of a rate

jeffersons democracy

land ownership was not concentrated in the hands of the few, the decision made by many land owners effect the environment

american frontier

slashing of forests, diversion of streams, drainage of marshes, killing of species

europleans saw north americas resources as boundless

first conservation movement

- attitudes changed after "the west was won" ~1890

- people began to realize that resources were expendable

- gospel of efficiency

Gospel of Efficiency

Applying management techniques to social problems to eliminate waste and inefficiency in government society and industry

absence of moral direction

the universal tendency to maximize self interest and shift productions costs to promote individual ends rather than a bigger picture

psychological egiosm

all human action is motivated by self interests

institutional inertia

the magnitude of irresponsibility among citizens/institutions ranges from "highly irresponsible" to "indirectly responsible"

social institutions choose interest that would be threatened by resource policy reform over the actual reform

faith in technology

the idea that a proper application of science can solve any problem

Jean Mayer

"it's the rich - in a relative sense, the people less likely to starve - who wreck the environment"

- occupy more space, disturb more ecology, and produce more waste

Ecofeminism

nonviolent activist and academic view that patriarchal ideology is at the center of our present environmental crisis

and that there will be no liberation or solution to either issue if dominance is the relationship

uniting the demands of the women's movement with ecological demands will reshape the underlying views of the modern society for the better

inequality

women experience drastic inequalities: economic, political, educational, medical/health, abuse/violence

equality/liberal feminism

1st wave: women demand equal rights, work opportunities, equal pay, suffrage

raidcal feminism

2nd wave: the personal is political (Kate Millet)

politics includes all power-structured relationships

difference feminism

2nd wave: celebrated women's difference from men