Professor Christopher Myers
Environmental Ethics PHIL320
April 26, 2015
Social Contract Connection to Land Ethics
In society people follow an unspoken law that governs the basis of living within that society a social contract. This unspoken contract gives people the freedom to choose if they wish to remain living there or to move on to another city or country. Since the time of Socrates the acknowledgement of a social contract has been established within civilization. Humans need to socialize is part of who we are it is within our nature to be social creatures. The Utilitarian believes that a morally good action is one that helps the greatest number of people and an Ethical egotist claims that it is “necessary and sufficient for …show more content…
The drainage of wetlands was typically viewed as a good thing, and was performed throughout most of America’s history. Wetlands were previously viewed as wasted land, a place filled with bugs and murky water. Therefore, many wetland regions were drained and converted into farmland or residential land to bring about development near these “unwanted” areas. During the 1700's, wetlands were regarded as swampy lands that bred diseases, restricted overland travel, impeded the production of food and fiber, and generally wetlands were not useful for survival (Dahl & Allord, 1997). Therefore, these lands were drained and cleared to provide farming lands and quicker routes. This continued throughout colonial America and the westward expansion. As the country grew so did the need for …show more content…
An effort was implemented in 1992, for a strong wetland restoration and preservation. Eugene dedicate large amounts of staffing resources into natural resource protection programs. Utilizing the staffing resources and ensuring proper planning while working across departments, between Planning and Development Department and the Public Works Department. Working with such a large team dedicated to planning and natural resource management which allowed the creation of an Environmental Policy Team (EPT) to coordinate environmental activities, adopt environmental policies and to show that the city is following the same rules as the private sector (Duerksen & Snyder, 2005). Because of the close association between the departments and the Public Works Department housing the wetland restoration and the wetland mitigation bank; creates a structure that has a positive collaboration. Although, as with many interagency departments there is always room to