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Approaches in environmental ethics for business and engineering  (Page 4/9)

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    History of ecology

  • Phase I—Clements: “Nature’s course … is not an aimless wandering to and fro but a steady flow toward stability that can be exactly plotted by the scientist. In any given habitat there occurs a clear progression through what Clements termed a “sere,” a system of developmental stages that begins with a primitive, inherently unbalanced plant assemblage and ends with a complex formation in a relatively permanent equilibrium.” Worster, EN, 210 “the unit of vegetation, the climax formatin, is an organic entity. As an organism, the formation arises, grows, matures and dies….The climax formation is the adult organism, the fully developed community, of which all initial and medial stages are but stages of development. Succession is the process of the reproduction nof a formation, and this reproductive process can no more fail to terminate in the adult form in vegetation than it can in the case of the individual.” (Clements quoted by Worster, EN, 211)
  • Phase II—Gleason and Individualism: The Individualistic Concept of Plant Association. Ecosystems are not organisms. They do not form associations but “mere accidental groupings.” Hence, Gleason criticizes the notion of ecosystems working toward a climax state. Worster, EN, 238
  • Phase III—Tansley and Individualism: Tansley rejected the “monoclimax” views of Clements. He also felt that it was wrong to define the climax state of ecosystems indepedntly of human influence. “Anthropogenic” climax: “biological system that is artificially created by humans but is as stable and balanced as Clements’ primeval climax.” Worster 240. Tansley sees ecosystems as physical systems. Ecosystems are arenas in which an exchange of energy and chemicals takes place. This allows for ecosystems to be treated analogously to electricity and using field theory in physics and its associated mathematical models. This also allows for ecology to move from methodological holism to methodological individualism: the behavior of the ecosystem is reducible to the sum total of the behavior of its parts
Outline of ethical approaches to environmental problem-solving
Table one:
Approach Description Method Proponents Leading Questions, Values, and Virtues
Non-Anthropocentric Holism Land Ethic : A thing has value or is good insofar as it promotes the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. Biotic community includes humans, non-humans, species, and ecosystems all interacting as a system. Focus of analysis and study is on ecosystem as a whole Sessions (Deep Ecology); Aldo Leopold according to Baird Callicott's reading (1) Respect for Biotic Communities (2) Prudence : "the midpoint between 'a mad rush into oblivion' and an 'intransigent do-nothingness'" (3) Practical wisdom or judgment : "showing 'sensitivity' to ecological communities and their members and sorting out the rival claims and interests within and among communities." See Shaw, "Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic
Non-Anthropocentric Individualism Biocentrism : This approach attributes moral consideration to all living things. It is based on respecting all "teleological centers of a life." Individual living things are focus of analysis. Objective is to find the telos or life-directing goal of each living individual. Paul Taylor; John Rodman; Albert Schweitzer (1) Find, through sympathetic imagination, an individual's "teleological center of a life, i.e., its proper good. (2) Respect it by refraining from interferring with it and promoting the circumstances its needs to realize its end (=telos)
Anthropocentric Holism Virtue Environmental Ethics : Approach centers on virtues as habits that promote sustainable transactions with the natural environment. Hursthouse provides a provocative example with the virtue, respect for nature. Rosalind Hursthouse; Sandler/Cafaro et. al. (1) Virtues of Position : "Constructive habits of seeing ourselves in a particular place in a relational structure and interacting accordingly. (2) Virtues of Care : "habits of constructive involvement within the relational structure where we have found our place. How widely do we cast our sensors in order to learn what is needed around us?" (3) Virtues of Attunement : "habits of handling temptations by adjusting our positive, outgoing drives and emotions to match our chosen place and degree of constructive, ecosocial engagement." (4) Virtues of Endurance : "habits of facing dangers and difficulties by handling our negative, protective drives and emotions in such a way that we can sustain our chosen sense of place and degree of constructive ecosocial engagement." Wensveen, 176-177
Anthropocentric Individualism Extensionism : (1) Moral value is extended ot individuals via sentiency, i.e., their capacity to suffer. (2) Moral rights are extended to individuals via preference autonomy, i.e., having desires and the capacity to act on them. Peter Singer (Animal Liberation); Tom Regan (Animal Rights) (1) Extending Utilitarianism : (a) What are the sentient creatures involved? (b) What impacts do our actions have on them? (c) What is the overall balance of benefits and harms? Does this balance maximize utility? (2) Extending Deontology : (a) What/who are the moral patients involved? (b) What are their rights? (c) Does the proposed action violate any of these rights? (d) Who speaks for these moral patients?
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Source:  OpenStax, Introduction to business, management, and ethics. OpenStax CNX. Aug 14, 2016 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11959/1.4
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