Kimberly Mund
Environmental Ethics
Essay # 3 Revised
The beauty that surrounds us every day is breath-taking and unique. We look around us and see the artistic flowers to the beautiful birds that fly in the air. We are surrounded by nature’s beauty and in return we should respect what we are blessed with. The question comes down to, what attitude do we adopt when it comes to nature? Why should we respect nature? Paul Taylor, the philosophical founder of bio-centric ethics focuses on having a respect for nature. In this article, I will discuss Taylor’s ethical standpoint and provide a critical analysis of his argument. Paul Taylor’s idea begins with the concept that living things can be benefited or harmed, which means they have “a good of their own.” His goal is set forth an idea that we have a duty to not harm them because they have inherent value. Taylor provides us with a bio-centric outlook on nature, which he believes that if a person understands and implements the elements, then the person will understand that the only moral attitude towards living things is out of …show more content…
According to Taylor, anthropocentrism is giving importance to the interests of humans above other species. He encourages us to have the bio-centric outlook towards nature. The overall basis for this theory is explained in four ways. The first component is: humans are non-privileged beings in the community of life. We are not the end of the evolutionary trail and nature does not depend on us. The second component is: that nature is interconnected to everything. The third component is: organisms are “teleological centers of life” and we have a good of our own. Humans have conscious wants and we also have interests unlike other things such as machines. The fourth and final component is: to believe humans are superior to nature is a bias that is
Environmental Ethics
Essay # 3 Revised
The beauty that surrounds us every day is breath-taking and unique. We look around us and see the artistic flowers to the beautiful birds that fly in the air. We are surrounded by nature’s beauty and in return we should respect what we are blessed with. The question comes down to, what attitude do we adopt when it comes to nature? Why should we respect nature? Paul Taylor, the philosophical founder of bio-centric ethics focuses on having a respect for nature. In this article, I will discuss Taylor’s ethical standpoint and provide a critical analysis of his argument. Paul Taylor’s idea begins with the concept that living things can be benefited or harmed, which means they have “a good of their own.” His goal is set forth an idea that we have a duty to not harm them because they have inherent value. Taylor provides us with a bio-centric outlook on nature, which he believes that if a person understands and implements the elements, then the person will understand that the only moral attitude towards living things is out of …show more content…
According to Taylor, anthropocentrism is giving importance to the interests of humans above other species. He encourages us to have the bio-centric outlook towards nature. The overall basis for this theory is explained in four ways. The first component is: humans are non-privileged beings in the community of life. We are not the end of the evolutionary trail and nature does not depend on us. The second component is: that nature is interconnected to everything. The third component is: organisms are “teleological centers of life” and we have a good of our own. Humans have conscious wants and we also have interests unlike other things such as machines. The fourth and final component is: to believe humans are superior to nature is a bias that is