Environmental Ethics
Environmental Ethics
Ethics is the study of what is right and wrong in human conduct. Environmental ethics studies the effects of human’s moral relationships on the environment and everything within it (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2008). The ethical principles that govern those relations determine human duties, obligations, and responsibilities with regard to the Earth’s natural environment and all of the animals and plants that inhabit it (Taylor, 1989). The purpose of this paper is to reveal environmental issues that are threatening the existence of life on Earth, and discus our social obligations to refrain from further damaging our environment, health and life for future generations. I will discus the need for appropriate actions and the ethical application in the decision making process on solving environmental concerns.
Environmental Concerns
The environment has been under attack since the dawn of man. Without the environment, man could not exist. Herein lies the dilemma; man takes from the earth what he needs to survive, food, water, shelter, and the very air he breathes. However, the ever-rising population of man demands more of these essentials at a rapid rate, therefore; more is being taken than the earth can replenish. The human populous and concentrations of pesticides in food crops, started to be seen as an environmental crisis in the 1960’s, which acted as the stepping-stone for environmental awareness. In 1967, historian Lynn White published an essay on the historical roots of the environmental crisis. Whites essay created many academic debates over the Judeo-Christian mode of thinking, which encouraged the exploitation of nature for human consumption. The ethical dilemma arises from the concern of whether or not it was morally correct for humans to ravage nature with no regards for the non-human cohabitants. The most regarded book in history, the Bible, reinforces Judeo-Christian thinking in Genesis 1:27-8, for man to subdue the...
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