Robbins Chapter 5: Environmental Ethics

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Factory Farms

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Intensive animal-raising agricultural operations; factory farms attempt to maximize production by raising as many animals in as little space as possible, often resulting in significant air and water pollution

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Ethics/Ethical

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The branch of philosophy dealing with morality, or questions of right and wrong human action in the world

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Environmental Justice

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A principle, as well as a body of thought and research, stressing the need for equitable distribution of environmental goods(parks, clean air, healthful working conditions) and environmental bads ( pollution, hazards, waste) between people, no matter their race, ethnicity, or gender. Conversely, environmental injustice describes a condition where unhealthful or dangerous conditions are disproportionately proximate to minority communities

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Dominion Thesis

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Arising from the Book of Genesis, the dominion thesis states that humans are the pinnacle of creation; as such, humans are granted ethical free rein to use nature in any way deemed beneficial

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Stewardship

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Taking responsibility for the property or fate of others; stewardship of land and natural resources is often used in a religious context, such as "caring for creation"

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Anthropocentrism

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An ethical standpoint that views humans as the central factor in considerations of right and wrong action in and toward nature (compare to ecocentrism)

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Utilitarian

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An ethical theory that posits that the value of a good should be judged solely (or at least primarily) by its usefulness to society; following the eighteenth-nineteenth-century philosopher Jeremy Bentham, usefulness is equated with maximizing pleasure or happiness and minimizing pain and suffering

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Conservation

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The management of a resource or system to sustain its productivity over time, typically associated with scientific management of collective goods like fisheries or forests (compare to preservation)

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Preservation

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The management of a resource or environment for protection and preservation, typically for its own sake, as in wilderness preservation (compare to conservation)

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Wilderness

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A natural parcel of land, more or less unaffected by human forces; increasingly, wilderness is viewed as a social construction

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Ecology

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The scientific study of interactions amongst organisms and between organisms and the habitat or ecosystem in whack they live in

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Ecocentrism

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An environmental ethical stance that argues that ecological concerns should, over and above human priorities, be central to decisions about right and wrong action (compare to anthropocentrism)

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Moral Extensionism

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An ethical principle stating that humans should extend their sphere of moral concern beyond

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Animal Liberation

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Named after Peter Singer's groundbreaking 1975 book, a radical social movement that aims to free all animals from use by humans, whether those users are for food, medical testing, industry, personal adornment, entertainment, or anything else

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Deep Ecology

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A philosophy of environmental ethics that distances itself from "shallow" or mainstream environmentalism by arguing for a "deeper" and supposedly more truly ecologically-informed view of the world

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Intrinsic Value

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The value of a natural object (e.g., an owl or a stream) in and for itself, as an end rather than a means

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Holism

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Any theory that holds that a whole system (e.g., an "ecosystem" or the earth) is more than the sum of its parts

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Naturalistic Fallacy

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A philosophically invalid derivation of an ethical "ought" from a natural "is"

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Scientism

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Usually deployed as a term of derision; refers to an uncritical reliance on the natural sciences as the basis for social decision-making and ethical judgments

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Social Ecology

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A school of thought and set of social movements, associated with the thinker Murray Bookchin, asserting that environmental problems and crises are rooted in typical social structures and relationships, since these tend to be hierarchical, state-controlled, and predicted on domination of both people and nature

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Pragmatism

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A branch of philosophy that arose in late-nineteenth-century North America, pragmatism considers real-world consequences and effects to be constituent components of truth and reality