ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS: WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Transcription

1 50 CHAPTER-II ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS: WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Environmental studies can be approached in a number of ways. Environmental studies are often treated as at par with ecology; the study of particular relation of plants and living creatures and their surrounding environment. In this sense, it is a branch of science approached with scientific methodologies and treated as scientific enquiry. Even in such scientific enquiries, we cannot reject the patt played by humans and man's approach and attitude is counted as vital. Recognizing the role of humans in environmental studies indicate the scope of environmental studies peltaining to ecology. Environmental philosophy widens this scope by analyzing the role of humans in relation with ecology and ecology related problems. Ecology involves in various telms of inter-disciplinary study. From such perspective ecology needs to combine both sciences and social sciences and environmental philosophy can be considered as connective links to such inter disciplinary study. It is an interdisciplinaty study in the sense that man's impact and role on environment depends on a variety of factors ranging from cultural attitudes to modes of social organization.

2 51 The ideologies involved in environmental ethics have many versions. Some are radical, some are purely theoretical, some theories gives practical orientation, some addresses environmental concern, and some proposes for a refonn or paradigm shift. Each of these ideologies is based on value judgments. So they admit coherency and contradiction along with these ideologies. This chapter tries to analyze the key versions of environmental ethics and its different perspectives with an evaluative outlook. Myths about Environmental crisis Environmental crisis is not a new thing in our society. The crisis does not stmi suddenly in a day. It has already threatened humanities existence. The people concerned with environmental crisis are growing in number and they include from all walks of life. But still, there are certain myths concerned with environmental crisis which creates obstacles in advancing in creating a sustainable environment. Everyone is afraid of adopting alternative ways and alternative future also. Some of the myths about environmental crisis are as follows. 1. Human ingenuity has triumphed in the past and so it will triumph in future also This point expresses the over confidence of man and his rational capacities. Being the abode of all rational strengths, man thinks that he can

3 52 face any challenges. But when nature strikes back, man stands as a helpless victim. So, human reason should be accompanied by ecological reason also. Ecological reason is not different from human reason; it is only an aspect of rationality itself. We should use ecological rationality to have a peaceful coexistence. By ecological reason, we can grant the right of all systems to live; thereby we can reject anthropocentric conception of reason. 2. The second myth about environmental crisis is that science and technology will help humans from ecological disaster. This is also affirming strong faith in human reason that humans can discover new technologies to meet ecological disaster. The technological civilization is hailed as the greatest invention of human reason. Here also man failed miserably in using reason for creative purposes. Of course, this technological civilization helped in living a comfmtable and enduring life, but man used this technology for destructive purposes than creative ones. All the great tragedies on the earth are the contribution of man. A research study rep01ted by the journal 'Science' and appeared on the 'The Hindu', daily, presents the disturbing conclusion that the removal of mangroves from parts of the coastline in five Asian countries, including India reduced protection available to communities living close to the coast when the tsunami waves

4 53 struck. I This shows that SCIence and technology cannot replace the loss created by ecological destruction whenever natural calamities occur, science and technology stands helplessly. 3. Another myth in relation with environmental crisis is that there is no gain without pain. We must sacrify something to gain This is also a myth in the sense that we can progress even without the cost of nature. Development does not mean taller and taller buildings and beautiful roads. In holistic view of development, not man alone is developing but all creatures are developing. In the evolutionary process man has attained rationality and this does not mean that there is no scope for other creatures. Man should allow other creatures to have a natural evolution. 4. Ethics cannot be put into practice in environment Till the evolution of environmental ethics, it is generally believed that the role and purview of ethics fall only between humans and it has nothing to do outside the pulview of human society. But if we follow the history of ethics, one could understand that this notion is a false one. Environmental ethics is only the natural outcome of traditional ethics. In a society, I The Hindu. Daily. Thimvananthapuram. dated28.l2.2005

5 54 whenever the existing values for leading a hannonious life become inadequate, it is natural to frame new rules to run the social affairs. In the same way, environmental ethics came to the forefront when the environmental crisis started mounting and the evolution of environmental ethics was inevitable. Moreover, environmental ethics is not interested in constructing in abstract theories only for discussion. Rather, the theories constructed by environmental ethics deals with day today questions and day today affairs of humanbeings. In this sense, it is an applied philosophy and an applied philosophy is always application oriented. Political, intellectual and historical background of Environmental Ethics Political Ecology Political ecology is a rapidly emergmg area m the contemporaly world. Political theorists and philosophers are compelled to give responses to environment related issues, instead of arguing about abstract theories. The moral principles which were once considered as abstract theories, which are good for debate and useful for nothing is given a new interpretation. Traditional theories of ethics are applied to environment related questions. The role of politics in environment related issues are becoming unavoidable. Although there are scientific solutions to environmental issues, these are

6 55 kept aside by economic and political consideration. So tackling such political standpoint in favor of environment is the duty of political ecology. At the political level environmental ethics faces the biggest criticism. It is argued that environmental ethics succeeded in creating a theoretical background but at the same time it has not succeeded in practical aspects of environmental policy formulation. Light and Katz argue that "despite the significant achievements at the level of theory, it is difficult to see what practical effect the field of environmental ethics has had on fmmulation of environmental policy". 2 Discussions and debates on environment and environment related issues are on the rise nowadays. Environment is becoming main agenda in the political debates all over the world. The politics behind ecology is a complicated affair. Most people concern about environment within their geographical area or within their realm of experience. A value theory in ecology tries to surpass this single side viewpoint and promotes a degree of abstraction to give some attention to global environmental problems. But the politically "over conscious" nations make the thing complicated and value oriented ecology is suppressed under political oriented ecology. " Peter Hay..4 Companion to Environmental 1'l10ught (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 2002) p.17.

7 56 The concepts about nature and culture have a deep role In environmental philosophy. The so called environment came to shape by conscious and unconscious activities of primary man. By shaping and molding environment, man was creating his own culture. All our traditional cultural folms have something to tell about nature. Elliott Sober points out that "the problem for environmentalism stems from the idea that species and ecosystems ought to be preserved for reasons additional to their known value as resources for human use. The feeling is that even when we cannot say what nutritional, medicinal, Ol~ recreational benefit the preservation provides, there still is a value in preservation. It is the search for a rational for this feeling that constitutes the main conceptual problem for environmentalism".3 The political background of environmental ethics stems from the practices adopted by Multi National Companies and govemments' non responsibility attitude. The concems about environment sta11ed even before such Multi National Companies capturing natural resources from commons. In this sense, the political history of environmentalism can be traced well before there was a reaction to industrial revolution. Ram Chandra Guha points out that there was an earlier wave of environmentalism in the west. It J Ruth Chadwick and Doris Schroeder, ed., Applied Ethics: Critical concepts in Philosophv (London: Rout ledge. 2(02) p p. 3-4.

8 57 started from great poets like Wordsworth, whose description of the Lake District and consequent campaigns to keep railways and factories out of that landscape were part ofthese stirrings. 4 Radical Environmentalism In general sense, radical environmentalism refers to a wide range of movements peltaining to ecology and eco philosophy. In its extreme form, it has a more militant attitude to social activism and views environmental issues as one among social issues. According to radical environmentalism, the degradation of environment is the result of colonial hegemony. Radical environmentalism is closely related with grass root ecological movements and organizations like "Earth first". 5 Radical environmentalists identify themselves with some varieties of deep ecology that is expressed strongly. Their main aim is the goal of social transformation by transferring global power structure. The political stewardship of exploiting man resulted in creating present day's development model. The present day model for development is economy oriented development that is, a single economy with universal 4 Ramachandra Gulla, Environmentalism: A Global History. (London, Oxford University Press) p.20. S Michael E.Zimmennan. ed., Environmental philosophy (New Jersey: Prentice Hall. New Jersey, 1993) p. 358.

9 58 lules and regulations framed by Multi National Companies. In such a market system everything should be viewed as a value for sale, everything has selling value. Now, the limits have been crossed by selling health, education, culture, heritage and even fundamental resources like water, air, fire etc. The roots of economic globalization go back over five hundred years to a time when the empire of Europe competed with each other in their race to seize control over values and resources like gold, silver, copper and timber that nature had stored in Asia, Africa and the Americas. 6 The major dominant factors in ecological politic's are the nature of industrialization and optimum resource use theory. Even in post industrialization period, our governments did not take care of socio-political commitments along with industrialization progress. The strategies which were employed in colonialization period were continued in post independent period with minimum change. The eat1h summit in Rio de Janeiro which was organized by United Nations Conference on Environment and Development was the breaking point in the history of political ecology. This Eat1h Summit was the plat form to reconcile the conflicting demands and varied interest of different (, Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke, Blue Gold (New Delhi: Left World Books, 2004) P.81.

10 59 countries with regard to environment. This summit proved the demand for an ethics which is oriented in environment. The major accomplishments of the summit were the following. 7 I. Establishing the environment as an international issue a point of transition on how to deal with global issues. 2. An agreement on the concept that human development and protection of earth's environment are inextricably intertwined. 3. A legally binding treaty that recommends curbing om1ss10ns of carbon dioxide, methane and other "green house" gases. 4. Legally binding treaty that requires it making inventories of plants and wildlife and planning to protect endangered species. 5. A realization of the difficulties of negotiating worldwide solutions to worldwide problems. 6. Gathering together the greatest number of world leaders ever assembled with a single aim. 7. The creation of a sustainable Development commission to monitor compliance with the promise made at Rio. The commission will rely on evidence gathered by private environmental groups and will use peer pressure and public opinion to shame countries into following the policies agreed to at the summit. John k Roth.ed.Jnternational Encyclopedia of Ethics(New Delhi:S Chand&Co.Ltd )p.269

11 60 8. The realization that there is no common paradigm for environmental ethics. There is a gap between those who say that humans are at the centre of concerns and those who say that by putting humans at the centre of things, with the implied right to dominate and exploit the rest of nature, humans perpetuate existing problems and create new ones. Intellectual background Environmental ethics can be expressed as an escape from humancentered thinking. Environmental ethics can be used as a tool to expand human thinking and to accommodate concerns about non-humans. According to Warwick Fox, "The extraordinaiy feature of our intellectual history is that we were exclusively concerned with the discussion of issues that were entirely human-centered or, at least theologically-centered". 8 He also points out that vi1tually, in the entire duration of western intellectual histmy, ethical discussions do not had any direct concern with moral obligations that humans might be thought of as having towards non-human world. Prof Eugene Hargrove. Environmental Ethics (North Texas: Dept. of Philosophy. University of North Texas) p.6.

12 61 The first professional journal with so exclusive concerns about environment and moral thinking was appeared in US by the end of 1970's. The joumal called 'Environmental Ethics' was a brave attempt to remind intellectual world that the so called world includes non-humans also. Warwick Fox, explains that "the human-centered frame work of reference has been so strong in our culture generally and in ethical discussion in patticular that the acceptance of environmental ethics as a legitimate area of study has been hard won indeed".9 Since then, things have been changing rapidly. Now it seems that environmental ethics is accepted as a legitimate tool of enquiry regarding environmental problems. The main purpose ofenvironmental ethics is not to make us aware about environmental problems. We are already concerned about our environment. The focus of environmental ethics is an enquiry into the moral foundations of environmental responsibility. John.H. Piet opmes that "philosophical writings m environmental ethics reveal two basic approaches to the subject. One is traditional moral expansionism which tries to expand outward from human centered ethics 9 Ruth Chadwick and Doris Schroeder, ed, op.cit p.28.

13 62 towards fuller recognition of and protection of future generation non-human animals and perhaps sentient life generally". 10 Environmental ethics tries to unify nature and ethics and the main purpose of this unification is to reform the viewpoint of science towards nature as value free. Science views nature as value free and environmental ethics gives primary values to nature. Historical Background Environmental ethics had its beginnings in the west by the end of l 970's. The background was prepared by Earth Day in 1970 when philosophers who were interested in environmental problems assembled to start something about environmental ethics. Aldo Leopold, in his brilliant essay pointed out that the roots of ecological problems were also philosophical. The first philosophical conference on environment was held at University of Georgia, organized by William Blackstone in The proceedings of the conference were published as 'philosophy and environmental crises'. 10 John H.Piet and Ayodhya Prasad, An Introduction to Applied Ethics(New Delhi: Cosmos Publication), p. 93.

14 63 The Canadian deep ecology Journal, 'The Trumpeter', provided a common platform for both academicians and environmentalists. This was an important link, for it helped the growing literatures in environmental ethics. Ame Naess, a Norwegian philosopher and the founding editor of the journal, "Inqui ry " stmted the Deep ecology movement which was a mile stone in the hist01y of environmental ethics. Another important turning point in the hist01y of environmental ethics was eco-feminist movement. Eco - feminism attracted many thinkers from various fields and it helped to find a common bond that separates them from conservative thought. From its inception onwards, environmental ethics and those working on these areas have drawn people's attention towards specific moral problems particularly environmental degradation. This alarming situation in ecological degradation compelled thinkers to have a serious concern and understanding towards the real life problems like this. So it has become an existential problem. This existential problem is not concerned with man alone, but all species. This is an existential problem of earth itself. Some important existential problems of environmental ethics are extinction of species, pollution, environmental degradation, deforestation and loss of harmony. Environmental ethics has a natural right to intervene any of the problems that concerns with our environment. For example, extinction of species is one such problem. In the long list of insults to the environment,

15 64 scientists say, extinction 1s the most senous because it is irreversible. Extinctions are happening at unnatural rates in many paits of the globe whenever plant and animal species in small ranges come into conflict with human demand. Biodiversity is crowded out as mass consumption puts pressure on space and natural resources. The century set the in glories record of pushing into extinction 20 mammals (including India's cheetah). 11 So the existential problem is so severe and environmental ethics has a lot of things to do in this area. Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring' was another epitome in the hist01y of environmental ethics. It created strong waves in favor of environmental ethics. It compelled scientific community to have a re-orientation regarding the concept of development. Silent spring questioned all the concepts regarding scientific experiment and single side use of science as a tool for development. Green movement also played a vital role in stimulating ethical principles for environment. The popularization of green movement was promoted by environmentalist literature which had also the backing of philosophers who were interested in Eco-philosophy. Such environmentalist literature backed by philosophical understanding questioned all sorts of ecological imperialism. Alfred W.Crosby was the first ecological historian who placed human invasion in their ecological context. 12 He argues that e Hindu Dai y, Th.iruvananthapuram, Dated " Nancy E. Langston. ed. Readings in Ecologv (New York: Oxford University press. 1999) p.32.

16 65 human associated ecological invasions were the key to the success of human invasions. He raised historical questions from an ecological perspective. Another striking area in which environmental ethics made a deep impact is on economics. All the developing models of economy is based as the concept that environment is part of the economy. But environmental ethics compelled to think another way. That is economy is part of environment. Now, there is a variety of literature based on Eco-economy: so environmental ethics reminds the economists that we can continue the economic progress by restructuring the global economy to make it compatible with earth's eco-system. Environmental Ethics: Main perspectives The systematic classification of theories of environmental ethics is not an easy task. These theories can not be classified hierarchically as each theory is mutually interlinked and influenced by each other. Broadly speaking, the main schemes of thought in environmental ethics in the west are as following. 1. Anthropocentric ethics 2. Non-anthropocentric ethics

17 66 3. Animal rights 4. Deep ecology and social ecology 5. Eco feminism 6. Environmental justice 7. Gaia hypothesis 8. Eco-Marxism 9. Spiritual ethics These streams of thought are not comprehensive. There are forms of environmentalism that are emerging. The most important aspect of above said schemes of thought is that they not only consider natural environment alone but also urban and mral environment. For example, how animals and species are affected by human interference, how humans affected in their changing environments, how should one plan restoration strategy etc. In another classification Michael E. Zimmerman categorized environment philosophy into three major areas. They are Environmental Ethics 2. Radical Ecology 3. Anthropocentric Reformism 13 Michael E. Zimmcnnan. ed, Op.Cit, pp.3-5.

18 67 According to him, environmental philosophy is an area which asserts that progress could be made without ecological crisis and challenges anthropocentric ethical norms and advocates for extension of moral properties to non-human beings. According to Zimmerman, the second major area in environmental ethics is radical ecology. This includes social ecology, eco-feminism and deep ecology. He cites two reasons for radical philosophers being radical. 14 Radical eco philosophers claim that in their analysis they could find out the conceptual, attitudinal, social, political and cultural origins of ecological crisis. According to radical philosophers only a revolution or cultural shift can save the planet from ecological destruction. Although all the radical eco philosophers agree generally about the need for a paradigm shift, they disagree about the roots of ecological crisis. The third major area in environmental philosophy is anthropocentric reformism, the claim that the roots of environmental problems are ) 1 ibid

19 68 environmentally harmful practices which originates from greed and short sightedness. Anthropocentric reformers deny the need for Cultural Revolution. According to them, environmentally destructive practices can be stopped by legislation and environmental education. According to Richard sylvan, it is JohnPass more who mapped out important traditions in western ethics in relation to man and nature. These traditions come under three categories. They are;15 1. A dominant tradition 2. The despotic tradition 3. The stewardship position and co-operative position. The dominant tradition and despotic tradition is directly in conflict with environmental ethics. These traditions view nature as a dominion of man and man is set to be free to act according to his wills and valuations. Although the co-operative tradition sets co-operation and cultivation with nature, is far from environmental ethics. The main difference is that cooperative tradition stands for every natural area for cultivation and thus for humanization. 15 ibid p.l8.

20 69 Environmental ethics as an academic discipline and as an applied philosophy is now making its deep impact on every major stream. Environmental ethics exists mainly because people have started questioning the accepted practices with regard to the concept of development. So in the broader framework, environmental ethics can be viewed as a search for alternative methods on how we should interact with one another and with nature in the background of alarming environmental problems. These environmental problems are the result of man's dream for development. In addition to face the stark realities, environmental ethics prepares us to have a comprehensive relationship with nature. Environmental ethics addresses many issues and it also considers different perspectives. The main perspectives in this area are two fold. 1. Anthropocentric or instrumental value approach 2. Non-anthropocentric or intrinsic value approach Ecology and value judgments are closely related. The relationship is a complementary attitude and not a competitive one. For example, ifyou want to live in a clean atmosphere for maintaining good health, you have to take care of environment also. So addressing environmental issues is also a social question.

21 70 The four most important problem prone areas in ecology are (1) global warming, (2) ozone depletion (3) biological degradation and (4) loss of habitat. All these issues involve value judgments. The point is that while evety one agrees about value judgments in relation to human context, environmental ethics also points out about the value judgments that are also involved in the non-human context. More over, interacting with nature can transform people's concepts of values away from materialistic consumption and destmctive tendency and it is an orientation towards a more fulfilling life. Taking a rational decision means altiving at a conclusion regarding what is right or wrong or what is valuable or not. If one is ignorant about values, one can not take a rational decision. 1. Anthropocentric or Instrumental value approaches to Environmental Ethics Anthropocentrism IS a VIew centered on human beings. Anthropocentrism considers the point that human beings alone can have values in themselves. It is the biased view that project man as the centre of universe. It considers all other things including non-humans, plants, species, eco-system etc, are for the people to attain maximum pleasure. So for an

22 71 anthropocentric every thing is a tool to advance towards ones own well being. Anthropocentrism ascribes only instrumental or use value to nature. The main concept of Anthropocentrism is that the material earth is filled with humans and natural resources and the latter is for the use of fonner. The defenders of this concept often use the utilitarian maxim - 'greatest happiness of the greatest people'. The main issues related with anthropocentrism are: Population issues Energy crisis Economic situation Environment depletion Animal rights The issues cited above is not comprehensive, we can equally allege that almost all the issues arising in relation with environment is anthropocentric in nature. But these are the issues that needed to address immediately. The defenders of anthropocentrism attack the environmentalist notion that man is only part of nature, one species among many others. They allege

23 72 that if man is pait of nature, then every thing that man does is also part of nature. So the debates on naturalness are an interesting one when the position of environmental ethicist is considered. For them, man as a apart of nature does not mean eve1y thing he does for himself is also natural, man is an extended being when the chain of species is considered. Environmental ethics as a discipline points out that as a rational animal, man alone can calculate about values and think about duties. So it is clear that man as a part of nature means man's responsibility towards nature. William Baxter, a contemporary defender of anthropocentrism points out that what we value most highly is that which yields greatest human satisfaction. So damage done to animals, plants and lands is irrelevant. He rejects the notion of preserving environment unless the reason is for the benefit of man. 16 Such criticisms stems from the background of that which are viewed nature and our accepted and dominated views on environment as a whole. In the past, our mindset was so typical that only value is for promoting human welfare. Now, added with the technology and powerful tools of science, man 16 Richard Cothem.C Hand Book for Environmental Risk Decision making (New York: Lewis Publishers, 1996) p.181.

24 73 saw point in exploiting nature for his welfare. The beginning of construction activities was the staiting point of war with nature. Man fighted with beast animals and cleared forests for his shelter and then for his luxmy. Market oriented societies One of the contributions of anthropocentric view is the development of market oriented societies. Such free market system views that there are no limits for mans' use of natural resources and there is no one to control our needs, as needs should be met with exploitation of natural resources, such a view is known as 'comucopian', 17 means something that contains a large supply of good things. Peter S. Wenz points out some practical viewpoints C' kl' h or tac mg ant ropocentnc views. In his view, as an applied philosophy, environmental ethics should interfere in day to day affairs and there should be a model code of conduct for such market oriented societies. He suggests developing a positive market approach to organic agriculture. This is because agricultural chemical in the environment are responsible for high rate of diseases like cancer. Organic agriculture avoids the use of such deadly chemicals. 17 Pctcr.S.Weng. Enviro11111ental Ethics Today (New York: Oxford University press. New York p ihid p. 38.

25 74 So, some s011 of a change in mind set is happening in favor of environmental values and for rejecting the modernist world view mark Row lands, argues that such crisis can be solved by a change in mind set. He says, "The danger, a danger that has arguably precipitated us into the sort of environmental crisis we face today is our manipulative and exploitative nature. It is not a superficial part of us. It is not a peculiarly cultural product. Neither is it a product of gender, rather, it has roots that delve deep into our natural hist01y. It is our manipulative and exploitative nature that makes us like a cancer on the environment. However, ironically but not, I think, paradoxically, it is also this nature which makes us one with the environment, it is this nature which makes us not individual, isolated, monadic entities but rather, genitive beings in the world" Non-anthropocentric or Intrinsic value approach In elucidating the idea of intrinsic value, the first problem we face is that the concept of intrinsic value, as it appears in the environmental ethics literature, is not univocal. In fact, it is possible to discern at least three distinct concepts of intrinsic value. Sorting through these distinct concepts, and working out which are relevant to the attempt to develop an environmental based ethics is our first task Mark Rowlands. The Environmental Crisis (London: Macmillan Press Ltd. 2000) pl ihid p.29

26 75 Intrinsic value in general terms, is the value that objects possess because of its basic inherent or intrinsic properties. G.E.Moore was the fore most exponent of this view. Intrinsic value is taken as basic value and all other values are defined in te1ms of intrinsic value. Non-anthropocentrism rejects all classical theories of ethics. All the classical theories of ethics such as utilitarian, natural rights theory etc are framed in relation with human involvements. The non-anthropocentric ethics, is based on the assumption that environment and all species also possess a value over and above human centered values. The main reason for ascribing intrinsic values to environment is from human's point of view, environment helps to fmiher human interests. The ethical theory of utilitarianism is based on this point. According to utilitarianism, an act is good or bad is based on the greatest amount of happiness it produces. The human centered approach to environmental values is a failed approach in the sense that human interest in the environment are diverse and cannot be met with the limited resources. centrism. Another vers10n of non-anthropocentrism 1s Biocentrism and Eco

27 76 Bio centrism is the view that life is the crucial feature that lends intrinsic value to those things that have it. 21 Bio centrism ascribes moral values to vide range of entities surpassing human values. It gives equal preference to all the living entities. Biocentrism claims that life is intrinsically valuable. Those who reject biocentrism are of the view that the basis of morality is the ability to reason and experience of pleasure or pain. Plants and animals lack both of these qualities and so moral values are applicable to human views alone. But the defenders of biocentrism reject such claims and according to them the basis of morality lies not in reason or experience of pleasure or pain but interests. The principle of interest has a broader scope. For claiming for a moral treatment, it is enough to have interests. So, non-human entities have interests, for being benefited or harmed. Biocentrism is limited in its scope. According to this view, anything that is not alive cannot have moral value. This notion excludes many species and ecosystems. The main failure of bio-centrism was that it fails to give intrinsic value to environmental systems such as ecosystem. \ ibid p.35

28 77 The pragmatic change in environmental studies is proposed by radical eco-philosophies. These radical eco philosophies were involved in struggles to create new sets of key values and principles that directly questions existing social paradigms. Some of these principles are shared by a number of eco-radical theories, though their argument for them is different. Eco centrism argues that the environment has larger perspectives than from human point of view. Eco centrism claims that the environment needs more attention and consideration. This consideration should not base human interests and it deserves direct moral consideration. Eco centrists points out that the tetid 'environment' denotes direct rights and moral responsibility; it has its own inherent worth. The famous advocate of eco centrism is Aldo Leopold. Leopold's influential essay "the Land Ethic,,22 deals how human morality is evolving through generations. Leopold elaborates the three types of ethics that is evolving through millennia. The first one deals with the relation between individuals themselves and the second one deals between individuals and society of which golden rule is cited as an example. The third ethic which is regulating now is between humans and environment, Leopold calls this relation as 'Land Ethic".23 "The land ethic simply enlarges 22 Aldo Leopold. "The Land Ethic" in Ruth Chadwick and Doris Schroeder ed. op cit p ih I 160 /(. p..

29 78 the boundaries ofthe community to include soils, waters, plants and animals or collectively: the land".24 Leopold's essay is advocating the ethics of land or environment over human instincts. He points out that the individuals instincts encourage him to compete for a place in the community, but his ethics encourages him to co-operate. The land ethic compels to change the role of humans from conqueror of the land to member of the land community which includes land also. Leopold's eco centrism is strongest one as it maintains the land (which includes soil, water, plants animals etc) as the member of the community. But Leopold points out that human being failed miserably in stopping environmental degradation. Land conservation is in its slowest process, conservation education failed to achieve its goals "It defines no right or wrong assigns no obligation, calls for no sacrifice, implies no change in the current philosophy of values. In respect of land use, it urges only enlightened self-interest".25 As a solution to the above problems Leopold uses the concept of land pyramid. The land pyramid consists of the class of all food chains, where 24 ihid ~; ibid, p. 162

30 79 higher realms in the pyramid depend on lower realms for evelything. The basic layers of the pyramid are soils, plants, insect, insect eating animals, omnivores and carnivores. According to Leopold there is an upward flow of energy and any obstructions in the flow of energy will damage the system. In Leopold's optimum, the economic mind set of man is the greatest obstacle in achieving land ethic. Animal Rights "Animal rights refer specifically to the extension of rights based ethical theories to non-human animals and generally to a political movement with philosophical foundations in both the utilitarian and rights based traditions in ethical theory". 26 Animal rights theory is mainly based on the writings of twentieth century philosopher Peter Singer and Tom Regan. Peter Singer's principle ofequal consideration ofinterests and Tom Regan's analysis of moral rights is the backbone of animal right theory. In Peter Singer's seminal work 'Animal liberation', he discusses about animals having moral rights. 27 Animal rights advocates the claim that animals also have rights. But basically as utilitarian, Singer does not oppose the uses of animals. If the benefits of using animals for scientific experimentation out 26 John K.Roth. ed. International Encyclopedia of Ethics(New Delhi, S.Chand & co. Limited. 2000) p,37 21 Peter Singer. Animal Liberation: A New Ethics For Treatment OfAnimals (New York. Random House. 1990) p.22

31 80 weighs harm to animals then, it 1s permitted on the basis of utilitarian principle. Singer characterizes all human being as 'speciestists', in the sense that speciestists give preference to interest of their own species and neglects the greater interest of other species. He objects this speciestists treatment along with racism and sexism. "Racists violate the principle of equality by giving greater weight to the interests of members of their own race when there is a clash between their interests and interests of those of another race. Sexists violate the principle of equality by favoring the interests of their own sex. Similarly, speciestists allow the interests of their own species to over ride the greater interests of members of other species. The pattern is identical in each case". 28 Singer argues that we need a middle position that would avoid speciecism. According to him "what we must do is bring non-human animals within our sphere of moral concern and cease to treat their lives as expendable for whatever trivial purpose we may have. At the same time, once we realize that the fact that a being is a member of our own species is not in itself enough to make it always wrong to kill that being, we may come to reconsider our policy of preserving human lives at all costs, even when there is no prospect of a meaningful, life or existence without terrible pain" Aldo Leopold, "'The Land Ethics" in Ruth Chadwick and Doris Schroeder,ed.,op. cit,p ibid, p.160

32 81 Peter Singer succeeded in championing the rights of non-humans and his use of "animal liberation" theory got wide spread acceptance among other liberation movement. His position is viewed as a philosophical analysis of how the human moral horizon and ethical obligations can be extended. He argues that human moral obligations should be extended such as to include animals also. The two background movements that paved the way for animals rights are environmental movements and animal liberation movements. Environmental movements carried out the message that it is wrong notion that natural world existed for human purposes. Environmental movements ascribed value to the environment independent of benefits that humans enjoying by utilizing the environment. Their contention was that human beings give value to the environment because it is useful to them. Man enjoyed and reaped a lot of benefits from nature and so nature is valuable. According to environmental movements, nature's worthiness stands well above the human assignment of values, man sees natural world from his perspectives alone, he sees nature mainly with the notion of 'usefulness'. Environmentalists argue that nature is having a value of its own and it has a right to exist its own. Animal liberation movements argue the same point with different mode. Their point is that the priority that we attach to human values

33 82 compared to non-human values should be stopped the core theory of animal liberation movements is that "all sentient beings have interests and we should give equal consideration to their interests irrespective ofwhether they are members of our' species or of another species".30 "Sentientism" is the teilli associated with all animal liberation movements. The prominent advocates of sentient ethics are peter singer, Joel Feinberg, Tom Regan and John Rodman. The term 'Sentient' refers to the consciousness of something. In animal liberation movements this term is used mainly to denote that all non-human animals are conscious at pleasure or pain. Another philosopher namely Paul W. Taylor argues that there is independent moral status beyond sentient beings. He ascribes independent moral status to all living things. He uses the principle, 'respect for nature'.31 According to Taylor respect for nature depends on how we view nature; in our thinking, feeling and acting. Taylor says that we must accept the wilderness of nature in its own way, not in our (humans) terms. For explaining the respect for nature, Taylor puts of forward a set of belief system. This belief system is explained by Taylor as "The Bio centric outlook on nature'. John Benson summarizes Taylor's belief system into four core beliefs ofthe biocentric outlook Peter Singer, 'Animals' in Dale Jamieson ed., A Companion to Environmental Philosophy (London: Blackwell Publish.ing Ltd., 2003), p \ John Benson. Environmental Ethics (London: Rout ledge Publishers, 2000). p Jolm Benson. op cit. p 89.

34 83 I. The belief that humans are members of Earth's community oflife in the same sense as, and on the same terms that, other living things are members ofthat community; 2. The belief that the human species along with all other species, are integral elements in a system at inter dependence such that the survival if each living, as well as its chances of fairing well or poorly, is determined not only by the physical conditions of its environment but also by its relations to other living things. 3. The belief that all organisms are teleological centers of fife in the sense that each is a unique individual pursuing its own good in its own way. 4. The belief that humans are not inherently superior to other living things. By this way of beliefs, man is compelled that he ought to adopt the attitude of respect for nature. For Taylor, the human centered approach to value theoly is not acceptable mainly because if we accept human-centred value system, then natures' value will be depend on man's interest. But at the same time, some philosophers challenged Tailor's position by saying "that the sense in which sentient being have a good is different from the

35 84 sense in which non-sentient being have a good". 33 But Taylor's position evokes a response to think of non-human cent red value system. The main ideological background for eco-radical theories can be divided into three segments. They are Social Ecology and Deep Ecology Eco feminism Environmental justice Each of these viewpoints has their own philosophical points and their own commitments to the principles of eco philosophy. But still, it is a difficult task to identify each of these camps from each other, because there are differences even among within a single camp. Social Ecology Social ecology is rooted in man's relationship with nature. Social ecology calls for a rethinking in man's relationship with nature. They allege that the history of man's relation with nature is oppressive. Man's primary aim was to conquer nature and exploit natural resources. For accomplishing 33 John Benson. op cit. p.100.

36 85 such primary tasks, he even started to suppress human by human. So the root cause of an environmental crisis is domination ofnature by humans. The most influential exponent of social ecology is Murray Bookchin. For him, "social ecology is a political movement which analyses the structure of human social hierarchy". 34 The notion of exploiting nature by man was preceded by ~omination of man by man. So the concept of domination historically started from man dominating man. This is known as historical priority thesis. 35 Bookchin was a strong critique of deep ecology movement. According to him, the deep ecology movement gives very little concern to the manipulation of human by humans. He alleged that deep ecology failed in its attempt to analyze social hierarchal structure. Bookchin was known as the anarchist of ecological theorists. John Clark describes him as "the first elaborated and theoretically sophisticated anarchist position in the history ofpolitical theory".3 6 According to social ecologists, all our present day ecological problems arise from deep rooted social problems. The way human beings 14 Murrav Book chin. 711e Philosophv ofsocial Ecologv (Montreal: Black Rose Books. 1990) p ) Murray Book chin. Remaking socie~y(boston South End Press Ltd.) p.60..1(, P H' () (" 289 clcr ay. p...it. p..

37 86 behave with each other as social beings is analyzed in social ecology... "In its deepest and most authentic sense, a social ecology is the awakenings earth community reflecting on itself, uncovering its history, exploring its present predicament, and contemplating its future. One aspect of this awakening is a process of philosophical reflection. As a philosophical approach, a social ecology investigates the ontological, epistemological, ethical and political dimensions of the relationship between the social and the ecological, and seeks the practical wisdom that results from such reflection. It seeks to give us, as beings situated in the course of real human and natural hist01y, guidance in facing specific challenges and opportunities. ln doing so, it develops an analysis that is both holistic and dialectical and a social practice that might best be described as eco communitarianism". 37 Social ecology envisages a co-operative ecological society rooted in the basic levels of being. It is a holistic vision which sees the social and ecological process as a holistic process. Such holistic and ecological evolution of species is understood by analyzing the interaction and mutual dependence between species and between species and eco system. It opposes all fonns of domination including human and non-human. Social ecology gives primaiy position to human social organization and for them society 37 Michael E.Zi1mnerman, ed, Environmental Philosophy (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Upper saddle River, New Jersey, 1998) p.416.

38 87 consists of political and economic freedom of individuals and local communities. Gaia hypothesis According to Gaia hypothesis the Earth functions as a self-regulating organism. Gaia hypothesis proposes that the environment is conceived as a community of individuals, with absolutely no distinction between community and organism and the environment is regarded as a single kind of individual. 38 James Lovelock is considered to be the founder and propounder of Gaia hypothesis. He insists that Gaia is a central mechanical process involved in sustaining life on earth. 39 It is a theory about holistic non anthropocentric concerns, primary attention being given to species and ecosystems. 'Gaia' is a term which denotes Greek goddess. Gaia hypothesis put forth the view that the Earth as a whole has life as single organism, and the individual species are like cells in a living organism. By thinking this way James Love lock justified holistic non-anthropocentric theories. He says: 38 J.E Love lock, Gaia (Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 15, 1979) 39 Peter Hay Op. Cit, p. 100

39 88 "The question... is the emth a living organism is a very unusual question, because most scientists, and that includes most biologists, would answer without doubt that it is not alive; so why should, a fairly hard scientist, wish to contradict them, why I think it is alive, and what kind of life it is. Now in doing this, I am speaking as a radical. I have had to become one because science is usually reluctant, and rightly so, to accept new hypothesis as fact, and the Gaia hypothesis, that postulates the earth to be the largest living thing in the solar system, has only been around for about fifteen thousand years". 40 Gaia hypothesis calls for a holistic thinking, thinking ourselves as pait of a larger living entity will create humility and kindness in treating the earth and other species. So it is primarily a holistic non-anthropocentric view point. Lovelock proposes that the entire earth is one large eco system. It is a self sustaining and self-creating system. He points out that the entire problem in relation with environment is basically problems of humans and culture and not of nature. So protection of Gaian system is the struting point of problems solving in relation with environment. The Gaia hypothesis points out that like the species in the Gaian system, the earth itself has its own natural tendencies and mechanisms to.jri Carolyn Merchant ed.. Key concepts in critical theory - Ecology (New Delhi: Rawat publications 1996)p. 351

40 89 adjust with the situation. These adjustments and natural mechanisms will be in danger when our action harms it. Lovelock point out that Gaia is sacred and has its own ends and meanings. "Gaia is a theory stating that the earth is a living entity whose biosphere is self-regulating and is able to maintain planetaty health by controlling its chemical and physical environment". 41 Gaia themy puts f011h a hypothesis that is more oriented towards biocentrism than anthropocentrism. As a biocentrically oriented theory, it holds that human beings play only a minor role in this living entity. Gaia hypothesis calls for a holistic thinking, thinking ourselves as part of a larger living entity will create humility and kindness in treating the earth and other species. So it is primarily a holistic non-anthropocentric viewpoint. Lovelock proposes that the entire earth is one large eco system. It is a self sustaining and self-creating system. He points out that all the problems in relations with environment are basically a problem of human's culture and not of nature. So protection of Gaian system is the starting point of problems solving in relation with environment. 41 John K.Roth, ed., op.cit p.338