Envriomental Ethics Midterm

For UVM environmental ethics PHIL1630A

Lynn White

Wrote “the Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis”, believed that Judeo-Christian worldview, capitalism, and democratic culture were a lethal threat to environmentalism.

Richard Routley

Posed the “Last Man argument” which put forth the argument of whether or not burning down the redwoods would be morally justifiable if you were the last man on earth.

Aldo Leopold

Wrote “the land ethic” in the Sand County Almanac. Enlarged the boundaries of a community to include the soil, water, and all biotic factors and said an action is right when it enhances the ecosystems around it. Land ethics changes our role from a conqueror of the land to a citizen of it

Rachel Carson

Wrote “silent spring”, a novel that outlined the danger of pesticides and helped to begin the movement of environmentalism.

Christopher Stone

wrote “Should Trees have Moral Standing?” which argued that environment itself had rights. The fact that an object cannot speak or move does not mean that things cannot be better or worse for said object.

Paul Taylor

Wrote the “Ethics of Respect for Nature” and had a biocentric outlook on nature. Said humans are nonprivileged members of earth’s community of life. Since we have the same origin as every other creature on earth we have an innate kinship to them. Said that having welfare interests was necessary for being morally considerable. Rejected the idea that an ecosystem without living things don’t have moral considerably.

Gary E Varner

Wrote “Biocentric Individualism”. Said that something has moral standing if and only if things can be better or worse for something and something has interests if and only if the fulfillment of it’s desires creates intrinsic value. Uses a value hierarchy based on the ability of a agent to complete ground projects categorical desires.

Peter Singer

Wrote “Famine, Affluence, and Morality” and was a utilitarian. Used the “hedonistic calculation” and believed one could calculate mathematically. Believed that charity shouldn’t be supererogatory and we should all be giving all we can. If it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought, morally to do it.

Wrote “All animals are equal”, extending to other creatures the basic principle of equality. Believed all beings should have their interests considered just incase they are capable of suffering and that both humans and animals have an interest in not suffering. Said that every new civil rights movement was once seen as absurd as the our lens of moral considerably grows.

Jeremy Bentham

Created Utilitarianism.

Bernard Williams

Wrote the “integrity objection”, objecting to Peter Singer’s ideas of extreme philanthropy.

Gita Sen

Wrote “Women, Poverty, and Population” which mixed feminism with environmental ethics. Advocated for women’s birth control and financial opportunity for women in order to stop overpopulation and poverty in the developing world in order to control population sizes.

Holmes Rostein

Wrote “Feeding People vs Saving Nature”, and believed that we didn’t need to choose between fixing global poverty and helping the environment. Said it was okay to put nature above human life in some instances, advocated for women’s right to choose their life path, and that you should only be able to live off the land if you can do so sustainably.

Henry Shue

wrote “Global Environmental and International Inequity”, said that the first major steps towards healing climate change should be taken by the wealthy industrial nations who caused it, and that all people should be treated with dignity and equally, but not all of the world should bear the same burdens and that we should strive for equity over equality.

Tom Regan

Wrote “A case for Animal Rights”, used a non-utilitarian view of animal rights, arguing that correct actions are simply actions that do not use others as a mere means to an end, including animals. Also said that anything that is an “experiencing subject of life” has innate value. Follows Deontology and sentio-centritism

Mark Sagoff

Wrote “Animal liberation and Environmental Ethics: Bad Marriage, Quick Divorce”, opponent to animal rights, arguing that animals kill more animals than humans do, and that the position of animal rights is anti-enviromentalist.

John Muir

A early American Preservationist, naturalist, and writer who established the Sierra club and helped create multiple different national parks. Outwardly disapproved of the damming of Hetch Hetchy

Gifford Pinchot

American forester and politician that believed in conservationism, using natures recourses in moderation, including our right to dam and use the water from Hetch Hetchy valley.