Environmental Ethics – Geography – UGC NET – Notes

Environmental ethics is a branch of ethics that studies the relation of human beings and the environment and how ethics play a role in this. Environmental ethics believe that humans are a part of society as well as other living creatures, which includes plants and animals. These items are a very important part of the world and are considered to be a functional part of human life.

Therefore, it is essential that every human being respected and honor this and use morals and ethics when dealing with these creatures.

“In environmental philosophy, environmental ethics is an established field of practical philosophy “which reconstructs the essential types of argumentation that can be made for protecting natural entities and the sustainable use of natural resources.” The main competing paradigms are anthropocentrism, physiocentrism (called ecocentrism as well), and theocentrism. Environmmental ethics exerts influence on a large range of disciplines including environmental law, environmental sociology, ecotheology, ecological economics, ecology and environmental geography.”

Global warming, global climate change, deforestation, pollution, resource degradation, the threat of extinction are few of the issues from which our planet is suffering. Environmental ethics are a key feature of environmental studies that establishes the relationship between humans and the earth. With environmental ethics, you can ensure that you are doing your part to keep the environment safe and protected.

Every time that a tree is cut down to make a home or other resources are used, we are using natural resources that are becoming more and more sparse to find. 

It is essential that you do your part to keep the environment protected and free from danger. It is not as difficult to do as you may think so long as you’re willing to make a few simple and easy changes.

With the rapid increase in the world’s population, the consumption of natural resources has increased several times. This has degraded our planet’s ability to provide the services we humans need. The consumption of resources is going at a faster rate than they can naturally replenish.

Environmental ethics builds on scientific understanding by bringing human values, moral principles, and improved decision making into conversation with science.

Environmental ethics is the philosophical discipline that considers the moral and ethical relationship of human beings to the environment. In other words: what, if any, moral obligation does man have to the preservation and care of the non-human world?

While ethical issues concerning the environment have been debated for centuries, environmental ethics did not emerge as a philosophical discipline until the 1970s. Its emergence was the result of increased awareness of how the rapidly growing world population was impacting the environment as well as the environmental consequences that came with the growing use of pesticides, technology, and industry.

Environmental ethics helps define man’s moral and ethical obligations toward the environment. But human values become a factor when looking at environmental ethics. Human values are the things that are important to individuals that they then use to evaluate actions or events. In other words, humans assign value to certain things and then use this assigned value to make decisions about whether something is right or wrong. Human values are unique to each individual because not everyone places the same importance on each element of life. For example, a person living in poverty in an undeveloped country may find it morally acceptable to cut down the forest to make room for a farm where he can grow food for his family. However, a person in a developed country may find this action morally unacceptable because the destruction of forests increases carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, which can negatively impact the environment.

Environmental ethics, along with human values, make for challenging philosophical debates about man’s interaction with the environment. Water and air pollution, the depletion of natural resources, loss of biodiversity, destruction of ecosystems, and global climate change are all part of the environmental ethics debate. And we see that within the discipline of environmental ethics there are tough ethical decisions humans must consider.

Environmental Ethics and Environmental Philosophy

Environmental ethics has produced around environmental philosophy. Many scientists have taken up the belief of the philosophical aspect of environmental hazards, thus giving rise to environmental ethics. Currently, environmental ethics has become a major concern for mankind.

The industrialization has given way to pollution and ecological imbalance. If an industry is causing such problems, it is not only the duty of that industry but all the human beings to make up for the losses. But how long an artificial and restored environment will able to sustain? Will it be able to take the place of natural resources? Environmentalists are trying to find answers to these difficult questions, and all these together are termed as environmental ethics. 

It is the responsibility of all to ensure that environmental ethics are being met. It is somewhat difficult to make adjustments that are necessary to ensure that you are following all environmental ethics.

Ethics plays an important role in our society today, and environmental ethics and business ethics must be considered. This has become more prevalent in today’s society.

Both oil and coal are bad, but not only for the environment, but for all living creatures, including plants and animals. Both are highly toxic in their natural raw state. They pollute the air and ground and water, and whether or not they are helping to create these natural disasters should be irrelevant. They are both finite and will not last forever, and the sooner we rid ourselves of the need for these two demons, the better.

While oil and coal companies continue to promote their products, and the best yet is clean coal, which is an unethical definition of something that just isn’t possible, their ethics come into question, especially environmental ethics. Most of the world’s ills are derived from both of these, with oil spills, mining accidents, fires, and now climate change and global warming.