Environmental ethics desjardins 5th edition pdf

Help your students think outside the classroom impact of environmental ethics issues Updated several times a day, Cengage Learning’s Global Environmental Ethics Watch is an ideal one-stop site for classroom discussion and research projects.

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Easily direct students to the resources most important to your course via specialized portals that focus on environmental issues such as animal welfare, ecofeminism, environmental economics, food ethics, and more.

Link to the latest information on key environmental issues from trusted academic journals, news outlets, and magazines, as well as to statistics, primary sources, case studies, podcasts, videos and much more.

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JOSEPH R. DESJARDINS College of Saint Benedict/St. John’s University

Environmental Ethics

An Introduction to Environmental Philosophy

F I FTH ED IT ION

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Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 16 15 14 13 12

Environmental Ethics: An Introduction to Environmental Philosophy, Fifth Edition

Joseph R. DesJardins

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2011941646

ISBN-13: 978-1-133-04997-5

ISBN-10: 1-133-04997-4

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One summer morning, while driving through the countryside, my four-year-old son asked, “Daddy, what are trees good for?” Sensing a precious moment of parenthood,

I began gently to explain that as living things they don’t need to be good for anything, but that trees do provide homes to many other living things, that they make and

clean the air that we breathe, that they can be majestic and beautiful. “But daddy,” he said, “I’m a scientist and I know more than you because you forgot the most

important thing. Trees are good for climbing.” I hope that I have not missed too many other such obvious truths in writing

this book, which I dedicate to Michael and Matthew.

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Copyright 201 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

Contents

PREFACE x i

I Basic Concepts 1

1 Science, Politics, and Ethics 3

Discussion: Global Climate Change 3

Discussion Topics 6

1.1 Introduction: Why Philosophy? 6

1.2 Science and Ethics 8

1.3 Philosophy, Politics, and Ethical Relativism 15

1.4 Environmental Ethics: An Overview 16

1.5 Summary 18

Notes 19

Discussion Questions 19

Global Environmental Ethics Watch 20

2 Ethical Theories and the Environment 21

Discussion: Why Protect Endangered Species? 21

Discussion Topics 22

2.1 Introduction 23

2.2 Philosophial Ethics: Getting Comfortable with the Topic 24

2.3 The Natural Law Tradition—Teleology and Virtues 27

2.4 Contemporary Perspectives on Teleology 30

2.5 The Utilitarian Tradition 33

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some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

2.6 Contemporary Perspectives on Utilitarianism 36

2.7 Deontology: An Ethics of Duty and Rights 37

2.8 Contemporary Perspectives on Deontological Ethics 38

2.9 Environmental Ethics and Religious Principles 40

The Good of God’s Creation 41

Finding the Divine in Nature 41

The Ultimate Respect for and Value of Life 42

Social Justice Ministries 42

Stewardship 43

2.10 Summary and Conclusions 43

Notes 44

Discussion Questions 44

Global Environmental Ethics Watch 45

II Environmental Ethics as Applied Ethics 47

3 Ethics and Economics: Managing Public Lands 49

Discussion: BP’s Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 49

Discussion Topics 50

3.1 Introduction 51

3.2 Conservation or Preservation? 51

3.3 Managing the National Forests 54

3.4 Pollution and Economics 59

3.5 Ethical Issues in Economic Analysis 62

3.6 Cost-Benefit Analysis 64

3.7 Ethical Analysis and Environmental Economics 66

3.8 Summary and Conclusions 71

Notes 71

Discussion Questions 73

Global Environmental Ethics Watch 73

4 Sustainability and Responsibilities to the Future 74

Discussion: Sustainability: Fad or Future? 74

Discussion Topics 76

4.1 Introduction 77

4.2 Do We Have Responsibilities to Future Generations? 78

4.3 What do We Owe Future Generations? 81

4.4 Consumption and Sustainable Development 88

4.5 Summary and Conclusions 92

vi CONTENTS

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Notes 92

Discussion Questions 94

Global Environmental Ethics Watch 94

5 Responsibilities to the Natural World: From Anthropocentric to Nonanthropocentric Ethics 95

Discussion: Industrial Farming: Mass Producing Animals as Food 95

Discussion Topics 97

5.1 Introduction 97

5.2 Moral Standing in the Western Tradition 98

5.3 Early Environmental Ethics 101

5.4 Moral Standing 105

5.5 Do Trees Have Standing? 108

5.6 Peter Singer and the Animal Liberation Movement 110

5.7 Tom Regan and Animal Rights 112

5.8 Ethical Implications of Animal Welfare 114

5.9 Critical Challenges 115

5.10 Summary and Conclusions 119

Notes 119

Discussion Questions 121

Global Environmental Ethics Watch 122

III Theories of Environmental Ethics 123

6 Biocentric Ethics and the Inherent Value of Life 125

Discussion: Synthetic Biology and the Value of Life 125

Discussion Topics 127

6.1 Introduction 127

6.2 Instrumental Value and Intrinsic Value 129

6.3 Biocentric Ethics and the Reverence for Life 132

6.4 Ethics and Character 135

6.5 Taylor’s Biocentric Ethics 136

6.6 Practical Implications 140

6.7 Challenges and Developments 143

6.8 Summary and Conclusions 145

Notes 146

Discussion Questions 147

Global Environmental Ethics Watch 148

CONTENTS vii

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