ENVIRONMENTALISM

What obligation do we have to the environment?

Environment

 The sum total of all surroundings of a

living organism, including natural
forces and other living things, which
provide conditions for development
and growth as well as of a danger
and damage.
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VALUE OF ENVIRONMENT
 INSTRUMENTAL VALUE
 The Environment has value because of it helps people
to reach some end
 FOOD
 SHELTER
 CLOTHING
 MEDICINE
 ENTERTAINMENT
Environmental Ethics

Environmental ethics is the discipline in

philosophy that studies the moral
relationship of human beings to, and also
the value and moral status of, the
environment and its non-human contents.

-Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

 WHAT IS
ENVIRONMENTALISM?
 Environmentalist/ism
 A specialist in the maintenance of ecological
balance and the conservation of the
environment
 Collins Concise English Dictionary Definition

 The ‘green’ ideas about the relationship

between society and nature
 David Pepper, 1996
Environmentalism has multiple meanings

 Many ways of perceiving humankinds relationship to

the planet
 Many ways of understanding the problems

 Many competing solutions

“the environmental issue mean such different things

that in aggregate it quite literally encompasses
everything” David Harvey
Theocentric
Having God as a Central Interest

 Nature and living species are Divine creations

 The human species has a stewardship duty to
protect and respect nature (Genesis 1:26 God
grants man dominion ….)
ISSUES IN ENVIRONMENSTALISM
 Consumption of Natural Resources
 Destruction of forest
 Environmental Pollution
 Harm to Animals
To what extent must we
go to preserve species
of animals or plants?
They help us to balance the world!

Animals extinct far faster than they used to----- and we

seemed to be blamed. But beyond that, there’s a simple
reason to save species:
“BECAUSE WE WANT TO”
Many of us love the natural world. We think animals are
cute, majestic, or just plain fascinating. Nature is beautiful.
So the fact that some of us find nature beautiful, by itself,
won’t do. There needs to be more practical reason to
keep species around.
Plants and animals do help us to live.
“If we value something and are prepared to pay to have it, then it has
value”
 Plants: for food not just by herbivore animals but also
us, human being.

 Plants can be medicine(herbal)

 Pollination(bumblebees)

 Photosynthesis
 Photosyntheticplankton in the sea, and green plants, provide us
with the oxygen we breathe.
 Animals: like plants, it’s one of our sources of food.
 Every species of animals contributes to life on earth in their
own way, if we take some of those animals out of the
picture well its just a downward spiral from there.
 Some animals purify the water.
 Humans are responsible for taking care of our
environment.
 So for our own good- both in terms of practical
things like food and water, and less physical needs
like beauty- we should protect them.
B. How much intervention in foreign affairs is
ethical in the service of “saving” forests,
whales, various other ecological system
The Challenge of Environmental Ethics

 Suppose putting out natural fires, culling feral

animals or destroying some individual members of
overpopulated indigenous species is necessary for
the protection of the integrity of a certain
ecosystem.
 It is often said to be morally wrong for human
beings to pollute and destroy parts of the natural
environment and to consume a huge proportion of
the planet’s natural resources.
Our Moral Responsibilities
TO SAVE OUR NATURE IN THE FUTURE

 We are morally obliged to consider the needs of

even the other elements of our environment- plants
and animals.
 We need to strike a balance between our needs
and the availability of resources, so that the
forthcoming generations are also able to to benefit
from their use.
 Animals and plants need to have a right to get a
fair share of resources and lead a safe life.