XV.

CARE FOR NATURE

LEARNING OUTCOMES

After studying this chapter, the students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate understanding of the state natural environment and the on-going crisis it faces:

2. Discuss a new perspective on humanity's place in the order of nature:

3. Identify the factors which undermine ecological balance;

4. Compare the various theories relevant to environmental ethics; and

5. Formulate new ways to mitigate the impact of climate change.

In 2013, the Philippines suffered from one of the most violent storms that ever visited the
country in recent history. The said whether system was known internationally as Haiyan. Local
whether experts, however, named it Yolanda. With strength of sustained with ranging up to 230
kph, Yolanda ravaged the coastal areas of Eastern Visayas particularly Tacloban and Samar.
When it left the Philippine area of responsibility, the media reported roughly 7000 deaths and
millions of pesos worth of damaged property. Yolanda was the new normal, climate scientist say,
and was, in fact, considered as more intense and destructive than Hurricane Katrina, which
ravaged the Gulf Coast of the United States. Both Yolanda and Katrina, scientist claimed, were
part of the larger picture of climate change.

As suggested by a documentary film represented by former U.S Vice President Al Gore, climate
change is "an inconvenient truth." The film, beating the phrase as title, was produced in 2006 as
was intended to educate the public on the reality and horrors of global warming. One might
consider the documentary as a reportage of the ailing "state of the earth" that is in serious need of
rehabilitation. The excellently crafted and well-researched documentary was a wake-up call for
all people across the globe regarding a crisis caused by humankind. It showed the realities of
melting snow caps, rising sea leveis, receding shorelines, and dying river beds depicting on
inconvenient truth; inconvenient because these realities put earth at extreme risk. This kind of
devastation was close to what Samar and Tacloban had to endure when Yolanda rammed through
Eastern Visayas. Yolanda was no ordinary whether system. One can no longer deny how much of
nature's destructive behavior is induced by humans themselves. This is the main issue on the
contentious problem of the world's changing weather patterns. Ethical theorist perceived in the
world's changing weather patterns not only the problem of the climate's inherently erratic
behavior but also the degree of human complicity in aggravating nature's highly volatile
temperament. Apparently, the best way to confront climate change is by changing the way people
think of and interact with nature. This is a challenge that involves scientific as well as ethical

interventions.

A. ETHICS AND ENVIRONMENT

Beside the observable state of physical degradation of the natural environment, the human

person's relation with nature is ultimately at stake in any discourse concerning environmental
ethics.

This is why examining the earth's condition and the continuing causes of its destructive or
damaging

effects must not be left to the scientist and climate experts alone. How the human person relate
with the physical world and, more importantly, how the human person views such relations, are
themes which find their best articulation not in the natural sciences but in ethics. As a specific
domain of inquiry, environmental ethics examine values, decision-making, modes of behavior,
including norms of action and interaction, which directly or indirectly impact the environment.
The sciences are surely helpful in providing data relevant to the study of the earth's physiology.
However, when it comes to weighing and scrutinizing thought patterns, scale of values, and
quality of decisions that the human person employs in exercising dominion over nature, ethics
and stands as an imperative concern.
As a human concern, environmental ethics started to draw attention only recently, specifically in
the 1960s as a result of the publication of two books considered seminal in the ecological
discourse. The first book, published in 1962, was Carson's Silent Spring. In this work, Carson
called the attention of her readers to the massive destruction of wildlife as well as the perils to
public health caused by the widespread use of chemical pesticides. Carson wrote: "It is not my
contention that chemical insecticides must never be used. do contend that we have put poisonous
and biologically potent chemicais indiscriminately into the hands of persons largely or wholly
ignorant of their potentials for harm. We have subjected enormous number of people to contact
with these poisons, without their consent and often without their knowledge." The other book
which attempted to raise the public consciousness on the changing complexion of human
interaction with nature was The Population Bomb by Paul Ehrlich in 1968. Rather than zeroing
in on the misuse of technology in harnessing the bounties of the environment, Ehrlich called out
a danger more fundamental than the employment of harmful technology. He was referring to the
unmitigated multiplication of human population, which to Ehrlich pointed out that: "Too many
cars, too many factories, too much detergent, too much pesticides, multiplying contrails,
inadequate sewage treatment plants, too little water, too much carbon dioxide- all can be traced
easily to too many people."

Both Carson and Ehrlich may be considered as the early precursors of what would later develop
as a systematic field of inquiry called environmental ethics. There are varieties of causes why the
world suffers from further degradation just as there are different sets of motivations why each
member of the human community should undertake care for earth seriously. The theorists of
environmental ethics commit themselves to sorting out these multiple perspectives and tracing
the answer that could be explain the prevailing ecological concerns. If the plurality of ethical
theories inquiring on the human task to protect the environment is true, then it is because the
issues underlying the ailing state of the earth

are very complex.

B. THE PHILIPPINES AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Presently, the Philippines is one of the top ten countries considered most vulnerable to climate/
change. The Global Climate Risk Index puts the country along with three other Southeast Asian
countries, namely Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand; and two South Asian countries specifically
Bangladesh and Pakistan in its list of 10 countries which have suffered most from impacts of
climate change in the last two decades. The Philippine's constant exposure to severe floods,
heavy rains, and tropical storms makes it an easy candidate for the list. An average of 20
typhoons enters the Philippine area of responsibility every year. One such typhoon as previously
mentioned was Yolanda (known internationally as Haiyan) which has been recorded as the
strongest typhoon ever to hit the Philippines after leaving behind nearly 7,000 people dead and
$13 billion worth of damage to property, livelihood,

and industries. The phenomenon of climate change has been traced to an ideological stance
called anthropocentrism. An anthropocentric perspective adheres to the belief that the human
person is the center of the natural environment and to him or her belongs the sole authority and
privilege of doing to nature as he or she pleases. One of the unfortunate consequences of this
view is the proliferation of an attitude which treats nature simply as "natural resources", that is,
as objects that can be utilized and consumed with very little or no concern at all for their
preservation. An example of anthropocentrism in practice is logger who indiscriminately cuts
trees without regard for the care of the forests; a fish farmer who endangers the survival of fish
species with the irresponsible installation of fish pens, or a miner who remains unbothered when
waste materials poison the water ways on which the livelihood of many communities depend.

These abusive practices against nature have led to the development of alternative theories of
environmental ethics. As alternatives, these theories seek the best possible way to explain how
the human person may conduct himself or herself in relation to nature. These alternatives
theories of environmental ethics distinguish themselves from anthropocentrism by completely
downplaying the misconceived superiority of the human species and highlighting instead the
facets of nature or one's relationship with nature once thought to be marginal. Oftentimes, deep
ecology is distinguished from shallow ecology, which considers care for the earth as necessary
only if it is in the interest of affluent countries to do so. Another cutting edge theory of
environmental ethics is ecofeminism. The third example of an emerging alternative theory of
environmental ethics is called social ecology whose primary exponent is the American
philosopher Murray Bookchin. In Bookchin's account, the physical or the "outer" world is the
first nature from which culture or the second culture develops. Hence, there should not be any
distinction environment and human civilization. All social problems for him are also
environmental problems and vice versa. Using this framework, one may see the degradation of
the rice terraces in Banaue both as an ecological concern and a cultural problem. The same may
be said about dwindling shoreline of Boracay due to the aggressive encroachment of commercial
and leisure establishment all wanting to have a piece of the beachfront advantage.
A number of things are considered when solving environmental issues and, to alter the course of
nature's utter destruction, people in general must be ready to change their way of looking at
themselves as well as their relation with the natural world. The theories discussed become
relevant only when they alter the perspectives of ethical agents and empower them to act
responsibly. The cause of caring for nature is indeed an ethical engagement and the imperative to
do so is drawn from the human person's membership in the so-called web of life. Each thing,
each species, each organism has a place in that web whose continued existence depends largely
on nurturing the singuiar life shared by everything and everyone on Earth.

KEY POINTS

 Environmental ethics studies the ethical relationship between the human person and
nature.

 Anthropocentrism is an ethical perspective which considers the human person as the

center of the natural world.

 Climate change is a phenomenon that shows extreme behavior of nature causing severe
drought, catastrophic storms, and frequent floods, among others, and induced in no small
way by humanity's abusive interaction with the environment. Over the years, several
theories of environmental ethics challenging the predominance of

 anthropocentrism have emerged such as deep ecology, ecofeminism, and socio ecology.

 .Environmental ethics shows a clear illustration of the importance of blending theory and
action in resolving actual ethical problems.

XVI. GLOBAL ETHICS

LEARNING OUTCOMES

After studying this chapter, the students should be able to:

1. Illustrate the possibility of an ethical system that transcends the boundaries of color, race,
religion, or gender

2. Articulate the need for an ethical perspective that is attuned to the current highly globalized
social, political, and cultural environments;

3. Discuss common humanity as the fundamental basis of global ethics; and

4. Develop and apply narrative imaginations.

Immediately after the terrorist' bombing of the twin towers of the World Trade Center on
September 11, 2001, popularly known as 9/11, a French national daily Le Monde put up a front
page with a poignant sympathetic message: "We Are All Americans." Such declaration was
symbolic of the testaments shared by the rest of the world in the aftermath of that tragic event.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed when islamic extremists piunged two commerciai pianes right
through the skyscrapers, setting fire, and eventually reducing the towers into a heap of melted
steel.

In the years that followed, the world would witness many more atrocities perpetuated by those
who committed themselves to sowing the seeds of terror in various parts of the world. Key cities
such as Madrid, Boston, London, Brussels, and Paris are no longer safe havens they used to be,
as extremism continues to spread far and wide across the globe. There is a need, therefore, for a
new ethical consciousness that can look beyond the borders of ethnic concerns and can view the
plight of other nations as a condition shared by the same humanity. This emergent situation
requires a new understanding of citizenship in which kinship is no longer based on restricted
nationalist affinities but on shared, dynamic human identity. A rather timely demonstration of this
consciousness happened when European countries opened doors to hundreds of thousands of
refugees fleeing war-stricken countries like Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. According to the United
National High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), roughly a million people fled to Europe in
2015. Around 972,500 of these people travelled through the Mediterranean Sea and an estimated
34,000 crossed Bulgaria and one Greece by land. As the UNCHR's estimates, one out of two
people who crossed the Mediterranean was a Syrian. Afghans accounted for 20 percent of these
refugees and Iraqis around seven percent. These refugees crossed the borders on foot and by
boat. A number of them died in transit and some of those who managed to reach Europe were
either reverted or-routed to other unfriendly territories. A photo of a child washed up in a Turkish
beach served as a grim reminder for Europe and for the rest of the world of the extremely
perilous plight of these refugees. While there were countries which stuck to their hard-line
rejection of the migrants, there were those-like Germany, France, and Britain-who extended their
hands and opened doors to the helpless refugees. Rather than seeing refugees as intruders or
unwelcomed strangers, they close to recognize their humanity and look at migrants as fellow
human beings worthy of genuine recognition. This gesture once more testifies to the urgency of
appreciating global ethics. It is a call for everyone to rethink the reality becoming human and to
find a norm for an ethics inclusive of all.

A. COMMON HUMANITY

The idea of global ethics is premised on the universal acknowledgement that all human persons,
regardless of their cultural, religious, economic, or political backgrounds, are sharers of the same
human bond. This important insights, however, is often taken for granted given the influence of
modern ethical culture, which tends to prioritize the value of the individual more than his or her
connection with the wider human community. This sense of oneness may be derived from the
recognition of the universality of the human desire to flourish and be fulfilled. Human
flourishing is an individual project whose enactment and fulfillment can only be achieved within
a community where sharing and cooperation are practiced. The result of the project is always
individual but the undertaking itself requires participative efforts and the recognition of shared
goods. The individual becomes the person that he or she wants because of the presence of others
who can affirm, challenge, motivate, or even temper one's individuality. In this aspect, one can
truly appreciate the value of moral education blended with an exposure to the narratives.
Narratives are important in the sense that they illustrate and instruct the social nature of human
flourishing. To be a citizen in global age requires more than just an affirmation of one's ethnic
origins. It also means enhancing one's consciousness of the commonality underlying both
national and personal identities, and improving one's capabilities as a member of the larger
human community within which human flourishing is possible. The human person is able to
strive for good and participate in the conduct of certain practices only when he or she inserts
himself or herself in a community whose end he or she shares.

The role of narratives in the way one interacts with others is strongly emphasized by American /
philosopher Martha Nussbaum. In her book Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the
Humanities?, Nussbaum argues for the vital presence of the humanities in the academe. In her
account, narratives allow students to nurture an aptitude she calls narrative imagination. For
Nussbaum, narrative imagination is "the ability to think what is might be like to be in the shoes
for a person different from oneself, to be an intelligent reader of that person's story, and to
understand the emotions and wishes and desires that someone so placed might have. Western and
non-western nations, much of this cultivation must take place in the family, but schools, and even
colleges and universities, also play an important role. If these academic institutions are to play it
well, they must give the humanities and the arts a central role in the curriculum "to cultivate a
participatory type of education that activities and refines the capacity to see the world through
another person's eyes."

Narratives are important in the exercise of moral agency because they help clarify a person's

identity in a society as well as the unity of individual lives. The good that one pursues cannot be
divorced

from the pursuit of the common good, which stands to benefit all. Ethical action, therefore, is
both an

individual and cooperative undertaking and is always rooted in one's membership in a social
group.

Education for the acquisition of professional skills is useful but without the social and political
context

for ethical action, such education is also bound to end nowhere. The academe is tasked to expose

students to the ethical framework of their career practices through the humanistic disciplines,

particularly the study of narratives. Narratives provide students keener appreciation of their
social,

political, and cultural conditions and allow them to imagine the possibility of pushing boundaries
in their
search for individual and common flourishing.
B. NARRATIVE AND CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION

It becomes clear from the preceding discussion that citizenship in the global, humanistic context
may not be understood purely in ethnic terms. Citizenship is also an ethical concept. As
suggested by Prof. Randy David of the University of the Philippines, "citizenship is an
understanding that one's destiny / is inextricably linked to the destiny of one's society that gives
birth in turn to a belief in social hope Citizenship is a moral practice that people realize in the
collective sphere in their lives." A humanistic and well-integrated type of education must be
promoted in order to help students see the importance and demands of this emerging sphere of
ethical engagement. This humanistic type of education,, however, is becoming more and more
difficult to achieve in culture which crowns individual success at the expense of the achievement
of the essential common good. Nonetheless, an education which immerses students in the
narratives may help from the global Filipino. The skills alone which qualify a Filipino in the
labor/job market cannot make the Filipino global because if he or she relies only on them, one
ends up as an instrument of the same system which gives littie regard to humanity.

One is not required to travel to places, to migrate to another country, or to find employment
abroad to qualify as a global Filipino. In the ethical context, the Filipino can become global when
he or she is empowered as an ethical agent. In this equation, global does not necessarily mean the
opposite of local but its extension. The ability to think narratively, to show sympathy for with
and others, or to imagine oneself in the shoes of a suffering fellow begins within the immediate
community of an individual. The local and global ethnical domains only vary in external
variables but the basic human connections remain the same from society to society and from
culture to culture. This is the fundamental insight behind the monumental document Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Crafted/ on December 10, 1948 the said document affirms among
others that: "All human beings are born free and equal dignity and rights. They are endowed with
reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood." and that
"Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedom set forth in this Declaration, without
distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion
national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made
on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to
which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other
limitation of sovereignty."
Global citizenship is ethical citizenship that one requires through education on narratives. A

student reads works of fiction, mythologies, epics, and novels not just to be familiar with another

culture's literary tradition but to find illustrations of similar human conditions shared by all
members of

the human community. These narratives afford basic insight into such universal experience such
as love,

triumph, loss, and friendship, among others which could help a reader see himself or herself as
distinct

but not isolated from others. Read in this manner, the narratives become the textual link between
the

local and the global, the past and the present, the individual and collective. The challenge,
particularly

for the academe, is to secure a place for humanistic education in its curriculum so as to make
students

globally competitive and at the same time ethically sensitive

KEY POINTS

• Global ethics points to the possibility of understanding and practicing ethics on the basis of the
humanity shared by all.
Globalization may be understood not just in terms of a single, unified system which links one
country with another but also in terms of a growing awareness of such common human bond.
Humanistic education is crucial to the articulation of global ethics.

Narratives are tools of humanistic education to enhance the students' ability to experience and
exercise sympathy.

Narrative imagination is a basic competency that individuals should develop to become genuine
global citizens.

KEY POINTS

The digital space is a continuously evolving domain of human interaction and its use is a key
component of human development.

Ethics is opposed not to the use but to the abuse of technology particularly in perpetuating illegal
activities.

Cyberbullying is one of the most rampant examples of illegal and unethical activities in
cyberspace.

Laws have a crucial role to play in promoting a healthy ethical climate in cyberspace.

Cyber laws must be enacted precisely because the digital world is a public domain where
individuals act and interact with one another.