Myself, Society, and the

Environment

Beautiful and Ugly

Good and Bad

Normal and Not Normal

People
Infrastructure

Nature

Onlookers
Part of the
System

Stakeholders/
Role Players

Environmental Ethics and

Philosophy

Outline:

Introduction
Ethical Principles
Worldviews
Science and the Scientific Method
Technology

INTRODUCTION

Ethics is a branch of:

Morals: Distinction between right and wrong

Values: Ultimate worth of actions or things

Environmental ethics deals with the moral

relationships between humans and the
surrounding world.

WORLDVIEWS
Anthropocentric - Human-centered.
Stewardship - Custodian of resources.
Biocentricism - All living things have
intrinsic value.
Ecocentricism - Whole is more important
than the parts.

Worldviews on the Environment:

Man is above the Environment

Anthropocentrism
Man is not above the Environment
Biocentrism - Nature is above Man
Stewardship - Man and Nature are equal

Assignment
Get one statement from the website below.
Group 1: http://www.world-earthquakes.com/index.php
Group 2:
http://earthquakepredictionbytiempe.blogspot.com/
Group 3: http://www.quakeprediction.com/

Past

Future
Aspirations

SCIENCE
Science - Provides an orderly, methodical
approach to investigating phenomena
while suggesting testable explanations for
those phenomena.
Assumes the world is knowable, and that
systematic investigations can yield meaningful
insights.
Parsimony - When two competing explanations
appear equally plausible, accept the simpler one.

Science
Deductive Reasoning - Starts with a
general principle and proceeds to a
specific case.
Inductive Reasoning - General principles
are inferred from examination of specific
cases.

Scientific Theory

Hypothesis vs. Theory

Hypothesis - A provisional explanation that
can be falsified by further investigation.
When tests support hypothesis, it is only
considered provisionally true.

Scientific Theory - Hypothesis supported

by multiple experiments and a majority of
experts.
Not casual everyday theory

Technology
For past two centuries, central tenet of
Western culture has been a strong faith in
progress.
Technology allows mistakes to be made
faster and on a larger scale than before.

Appropriate Technology - Promotes

machines and approaches suitable for
local conditions and cultures.

Group 1: http://www.world-earthquakes.com/index.php
Group 2: http://earthquakepredictionbytiempe.blogspot.com/
Group 3: http://www.quakeprediction.com/
Group 4: USGS earthquake prediction program
Group 5: El Nio may develop this year from PAGASA

Describe how the information on earthquakes/El

Nino predictions was determined.
Is the information from the source scientific?
Basis for your answer.

Names of groupmates and leader

To be presented in class