Environmental Ethics 01 10 2015 Office Hours Dr Justus Brad Stockdale TA Nick TA 154 Dodd Hall Dodd Hall 218A Diffenbaugh Hall T R 12 15 1 45 M 12 30 2 WF 12 30 2 T 2 3 30 jjustus fsu edu bes12b my fsu edu nb14d my fsu edu What is Environmental Ethics Philosophy o Clarification of concepts e g consciousness free will meaning possibility property rationality right substance etc In Environmental ethics biodiversity environmentalism exotic species intrinsic value nature restoration wilderness and many more o Ethics epistemology and metaphysics are all connected Metaphysics study of being Epistemology study of knowledge Metaethics and normative ethics are all combined o Analysis of arguments Ex from environmental ethics Premise 1 if you were the last person alive chopping down the last remaining redwood would not hurt or benefit anyone Premise 2 what makes an action unethical is causing harm to others or preventing benefit to them Conclusion as the last man in this scenario chopping down the redwood would be ethically permissible Types of argument Deduction truth of premises guarantees truth of o Truth preserving conclusion Called validity when attributed to arguments Ex Ex P1 all men are mortal P2 Socrates is a man C Socrates is mortal valid P1 All pigs can fly P2 Wilbur is a pig C Wilbur can fly valid Soundness validity all premises are true Soundness is one gold standard of philosophical Gauging soundness however can be quite tricky Another evaluative test does the argument beg work the question Ex o P1 Our leaders are high quality people o P2 Politicians are our leaders o C Politicians are high quality people o Good argument Not Necessarily o It might beg the question A Assuming P2 is uncontroversial an argument for P1 might assume politicians are high quality people Use conclusion to justify P1 B Similarly One could accept 01 but object that politicians can only be our leaders p2 if they are high quality people a clear begging of the question Environmental Ethics Background o Two broad kinds of environmentalism Anthropocentrism Humans are the source of all values Nonhuman entities are only valuable to the extent humans find them valuable Gifford Pinchot 1865 1946 1ST Forester Biocentrism Living human entities have value independent of humans or any other kind of valuers John Muir 1838 1914 Biocentrism does not allow nonliving things like mountains and rivers to have value independent of living things Nonanthropocentrism allows this Sentientism Experiences of pleasure and pain are the source of all value Organisms capable of such experiences can have value Sentientism allows entities such as chimps mice and slugs to have value independent of humans Individualism only individual living entities you me spot the dog the rat living in the attic have value Holism some nonindividuals e g biological species communities ecosystems have value independent of the value of individual such as humans sentient organisms living entities Question Given the above definitions can a biocentrist be a holist o Instrumental Value value an entity has for a valuer such as a human or any organisms cognitively capable of having desires and goals toward which entities can contribute Synonyms utilitarian demand use value Question are all instrumental values economic values Ex A Kid o Intrinsic Value Value an entity has in itself Alternatively intrinsic value is value an entity has independent of all valuers o Crucial Test to distinguish the two kinds of value if all valuers cease to exist would the entity in question still have values Test The value of good wine Test 2 The value of a bonobo chimp Question Given the above definitions what kind of value is the aesthetic value of a painting Instrumental Bryan Norton and the Sand Dollars o Found the little girls extraction of dollars unethical but was unable to express the reason for this judgment either in i economic terms or ii in terms of the supposed rights of the dollars o Environmentalist Dilemma Strongly believe that some action is wrong but being unable to explain cogently why o Question Is Norton correct to feel that the little girls action was wrong o Question What was Norton s solution to the environmentalist s dilemma Answer The best rationales for protection appeals to the knowledge that can be gained from the sand dollars especially in their role as part of the larger beach coastal etc ecosystem The curiosity about the sand dollars respects the sand dollars as living things with stories to tell Question Is this a good answer Animal and Environmental Ethics o First some preliminaries about ethics Normative Ethics the study of what you should do and the kind of person you should be 3 main kinds of theories of ethics Utilitarianism act such that the consequences of your action maximizes pleasure and minimizes pain Deontology act according to your duty What is your duty For Immanuel Kant ones duty was determined by the o Categorical Imperative act such that the maxim of one s action could become a universal law Ex Deception Virtue Ethics don t focus on actions Rather you should be cultivating yourself to be a virtuous person o A few more terms Racism obvious Sexism Obvious Specieism similar to racism and sexism the view that membership to one species takes priority over another o Peter Singer 1946 present Founder of the animal liberation movement Director of the bioethics institute at Princeton Utilitarian Probably the most famous living philosopher o Equality is a principle of ethics What does it mean Ethical Equality is not actual equality of individuals Individual humans for example differ in many ways Ethical Equality is not actual equality of groups Assume races and sexes for example are equal i e on average have the same intelligence virtue morality beauty etc This would preclude racism and sexism but leave open intelligence beauty or socio economic class as a legitimate basis for ethical inequality Summary Ethical Equality is not factual equality There is no logically compelling reason for assuming that a factual difference in the amount of consideration we give to satisfying their needs and interests the interests of every being affected by an action are to be taken into account and given the same weight as the like interests of any other being does not require equality of treatment ethical equality of men and women does not entail they have the same rights ethical equality of humans and nonhumans does not entail pigs have a right to vote or