University:
Manchester University
Course:
PHIL 201 | Introduction to Philosophy
Academic year:

2023
Views:

360

Pages:

10
Author:

CometConductor

Callicott on the Land Ethic 2. Moral progress (in practice, in consciousness) The Land ethic as the next step in our moral progress (see 7-8: Moral extensionism) Callicott on the Land Ethic 3. The origin of ethics Does ethics rest on … Divine Commandment? Social Contract? Pre-Rational State? “All ethics so far evolved rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts. His instincts prompt him to compete for his place in the community, but his ethics prompt him also to co-operate (perhaps in order that there may be a place to compete for).” [Leopold, “Land Ethic”] Callicott on the Land Ethic 4. Moral considerability and community “The scope and specific content of ethics will reflect both the perceived boundaries and actual structure or organization of a cooperative community or society. Ethics and society or community are correlative.” [Callicott, “Conceptual Foundations”] “The Land ethic simply enlarges the boundary of the community to include soils, water, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land.” [Leopold, “Land Ethic”] Callicott on the Land Ethic 5. Elton’s biotic community [Charles Elton (1900-1991), Animal Ecology (1927)] How are human communities similar with biotic communities? How are they different? “A land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it..” [Leopold, “Land Ethic”] Callicott on the Land Ethic 6. Conceptual foundations Three scientific cornerstones to the land ethic: Evolutionary Theory (diachronic): links ethics and social organization. Ecological Theory (synchronic): links human and nonhuman nature into one community. Copernican Astronomy: emphasizes the earth as an island of life in otherwise desolate space. Callicott on the Land Ethic 7-8. Moral extensionism Traditional moral theory is based on the individual, and the task is to move from egoism to altruism: I → Other Leopold’s ecological awareness shifted him to a holistic ethical perspective Atomism → Holism Callicott on the Land Ethic 9. Ecology “Ecology is the study of the relationships of organisms to one another and to the elemental environment.” [Callicott, “Conceptual Foundations”] Ecology emphasizes relationships between individuals over the individuals themselves, defining individuals in terms of their relations. Two competing models for ecology: Elton: “community model”: individuals as members Forbes: “organism model”: individuals as cells Callicott on the Land Ethic 10. Practical principles of the land ethic • Do not cause extinctions. • Be careful when introducing exotics and domestics into new territory. • Be careful when spending natural capital (e.g., topsoil). • Be careful when damming rivers. • Be very careful in dealing with predators (not interfering with them). Callicott on the Land Ethic 11. Fairness and human ethics “Trophic [nutritional] asymmetries constitute the kernel of the biotic community. It seems unjust, unfair. But that is how the economy of nature is organized….” [Callicott, “Conceptual Foundations”] Tom Regan’s charge of “Environmental Facism” Callicott on the Land Ethic 12. Land ethic as concentric circles of obligation “Our prior moral sensibilities and obligations…remain operative and pre-emptive. […] Eatch emergent, and larger, social unit is layered over the more primitive, and intimate, ones.” “Ethics evolve because they contribute to the inclusive fitness of the carriers.” “Ethics are grounded in instinctive feeling – love, sympathy, respect – not in self-conscious calculating intelligence.” [Callicott, “Conceptual Foundations”]

The Land Ethic Part 2

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