Environmental Ethics

Front 1

julian simon

Back 1

about resources possibly being infinite
lecture 9 on obligations to future generations

Front 2

simon's reasoning and limitations

Back 2

1) when an existing resource runs out you look for more resources
2) scarcity also leads you to research new resources... most are cheaper today
3) we want the services, not the resources themselves
4) known limits keep expanding
... so they aren't finite

Hint 2

a) can't limit this to all resources
b) no account of wastes, only sources
c) finite vs. fixed
d) particular resources are finite, though subs may not be
e) still must be conscious

Front 3

martin golding
(and his 2 important puzzles)

Back 3

we do not have obligations to future generations
-we don't know their conditions of life
-perhaps obligated not to plan for them

Hint 3

1) who has claims on us?
-those who are part of our moral community
2) who is part of our moral community?
- share our social ideal

Front 4

Gregory Kavaka

Back 4

we do have obligations to the future generations
1) friends vs strangers: rich need to aide strangers in need?
2) futurity problem: similar needs in the future? worth equal consideration of present strangers?

Hint 4

NO:
1) temporal location of future people
2) ignorance of them
3) contingency of their existence

Front 5

Kavaka's 3 points

Back 5

temporal location: does time location of a desire make a difference?

ignorance of future people: they're going to need the same basic things

contingency: may not come to exist at all, and depends on the present people

Front 6

do we have reason to care if the human species survives (according to kavaka?)

Back 6

1) human life is valuable and is generally good to possess it
a) human life has pleasures
b) certain experiences and relationships are valuable in themselves
c) we can set and achieve goals and exercise complexity
2) is the price of a high consuming life worth the life of a long moderate one?

Front 7

aid from generation to generation by kavaka

Back 7

leave future generations with as much as was given to the former generation

Hint 7

high standard? no b/c some resources are renewable and knowledge always grows

Front 8

Meadows

Back 8

addresses biodiversity
we should preserve it for 3 reasons:
1) economic purposes (inc. drugs and food)
2) environmental services (eg. bees pollinating)
3) genetic information

Front 9

Russow

Back 9

individual animals have aesthetic value forming our obligation to them

Front 10

Gould

Back 10

we can't save every subspecies, must act on a case by case basis
- uniqueness / scientific interest
- indicator value: focus attention on one, therefore saving many others
*golden rule

Front 11

Russow's reasons/rejections for why species matter

Back 11

1) we have been assigned the rule of steward/caretaker
2) some extrinsic value to us
3) intrinsic value makes worth preserving

Hint 11

1) stewardship doesn't help us decide what deserves preserving
2) problems w/ extrinsic value: we can always calculate some other subspecies value to us, sometimes replacement makes the system not work, and extinction is part of evolution
3) probs w/ intrinsic value: hard to protect so many subspecies, hard to weigh intrinsic value against economic hardship

Front 12

problems with Russow's argument

Back 12

1) looksist: why is it okay to base what we preserve on looks?
2) speciesism: we're saying that the aesthetic value of a species is grounds for special treatment

Front 13

overpopulation and overconsumption

Back 13

carrying capacity = #ppl the earth can sustain & function of our values (how we want to live / use earth)
*nearly half the people who ever lived are alive today

Hint 13

overpopulation has occurred when the current population has negatively effected the environment to a level that it won't be able to sustain that population
developing countries: overpopulation is an issue
developing: overconsumption/waste

Front 14

Hardin's crisis vs. crunch

Back 14

Crisis: if people can sustain themselves if we feed them, then we must feed them
Crunch: we create an ongoing problem when these starving people reproduce in an area that cannot feed them

Hint 14

we should never send food aid to countries beyond their carrying capacity; they must drop population to a sustainable level

Front 15

responses to controlling populations

Back 15

1) freedoms at issue cannot block the relevant conclusons
2) even if freedoms can't be overridden some pop control policies wouldn't interfere w/ the freedoms at issue

Front 16

how do we assess population policy options ethically

Back 16

effectiveness, practicality, urgency, side-effects, fairness, coerciveness

Front 17

obligations to preserve species authors

Back 17

meadows
russow
gould

Front 18

population control authors

Back 18

hugh lafollette

Front 19

obligations to future generations authors

Back 19

golding
kavaka