Lecture 9: Ecocentrism

• , “The Land Ethic” (1948) • J. Baird Callicott, “Animal Liberation and Environmental Ethics: A Triangular Affair” (1980)

Friday, October 4, 2013 Ecocentrism

• We can imagine a very different moral philosophy that takes the integrity and persistence of the ecosystem as a whole as the fundamental principle of morality.

• What value might we place on pain, death, and suffering?

• They may be an integral part of the functioning of an ecosystem - such as predator-prey relations or sharp reductions in population sizes in response to dearth

Friday, October 4, 2013 Ecocentrism

• So if it’s not the well-being or even life of the individual which is important, what is? • From the ecocentric perspective, it’s the well- functioning of the ecosystem of a whole, which is worthy of protection and respect. • Viability, resilience, self-sufficiency of interactions of species with one another and with abiotic surroundings.

Friday, October 4, 2013 Aldo Leopold

• 1887-1948 • Forefront of • • Respected scientist with U. S. Forest Service • Avid hunter

Friday, October 4, 2013 The Land Ethic

• Articulate new ethics of human-nature relation which centers around the ecosystem as a whole • “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.”

Friday, October 4, 2013 The Land Ethic

• Leopold’s ethic is holistic rather than individualistic: the emphasis is on the well-functioning of the whole ecosystem rather than the moral value of the individual creature.

Friday, October 4, 2013 The Land Ethic - Major Themes

1. Expansion of the moral circle 2. The community concept 3. Critique of purely economic motives for conservation 4. The land ethic

Friday, October 4, 2013 Expansion of the moral circle

• There has been a historical progression in our ethical ideas • Expansion of our ideas of ‘who deserves moral consideration’

Friday, October 4, 2013 Legal rights in the US

• Legal rights restricted to white males with property • White males without property • Females • African-Americans

Friday, October 4, 2013 African Americans

Females

White males without land

White land owning males

Friday, October 4, 2013 Expansion of the moral circle • “This extension of ethics...is actually a process in ecological evolution... • “There is as yet no ethic dealing with man’s relation to land and to the animals and plants which grow upon it... • “An evolutionary possibility and an ecological necessity.”

Friday, October 4, 2013 Ecosystems ?

Living creatures ? Sentient creatures ?

African Americans

Females

People without land

White land owning males

Friday, October 4, 2013 The Land Ethic - Major Themes

1. Expansion of the moral circle 2. The community concept 3. Critique of purely economic motives for conservation 4. The land ethic

Friday, October 4, 2013 The Community Concept • Like Paul Taylor’s “biocentric outlook on nature”, Leopold advocates a basic shift in our worldview regarding our place in nature • “All ethics so far evolves rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts”

Friday, October 4, 2013 The Community Concept

• “The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land”

Friday, October 4, 2013 The Community Concept

• “In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member of it. It implies respect for his fellow members, and also respect for the community as such”

Friday, October 4, 2013 The Land Ethic - Major Themes

1. Expansion of the moral circle 2. The community concept 3. Critique of purely economic motives for conservation 4. The land ethic

Friday, October 4, 2013 Critique of purely economic incentives for conservation

• The Gulf Coast is a national treasure. Its natural resources are an important economic engine for the entire United States; its waters sustain a diverse and vibrant ecosystem; and the Gulf's culture, natural beauty, and historic significance are unique. Each year, millions of tourists visit the Gulf to vacation, swim, boat, fish, hunt, and bird-watch; and, together, the Gulf's tourism and commercial and recreational fishing industries make a significant contribution to the United States economy. More than 90 percent of the Nation's offshore oil and gas is produced in the Gulf, and it is where nearly one-third of seafood production in the continental United States is harvested.

• -White House Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force

Friday, October 4, 2013 Critique of purely economic incentives for conservation

• Because although it seems counterintuitive, protecting marine resources actually results in improvements to the local fish catch, and due to a multi-faceted educational campaign by Conservation International (CI), the Philippine government and other partners is encouraging a greater public understanding and appreciation of the positive impact that protected areas can have on local livelihoods.

• -From Conservation International (CI) website

Friday, October 4, 2013 Critique of purely economic incentives for conservation

• Managed by Ecuador's Ministry of Environment, Socio Bosque offers individuals and indigenous communities economic incentives to conserve their forests. Over a 20-year period, the program will pay landowners every year for each hectare they protect. The beneficiaries are also required to develop a social investment plan which outlines how they will use these funds, which can be invested in activities such as agro-forestry, ecotourism and local capacity- building.

• -From Conservation International (CI) website

Friday, October 4, 2013 Option value

• One common argument for conservation: “Even if a part of the natural world (plant, animal, ecosytem) does not seem to have value to anyone, it may prove beneficial in the future...”

Friday, October 4, 2013 Economic incentives and option value

Option Value: An economic term that refers to assigning a value to some resource whose consumption is deferred to the future, or whose economic value has not yet been determined.Yet-to- be discovered medicinal plants means that rainforests have an option value.

Friday, October 4, 2013 Critique of purely economic incentives for conservation

• Option value incorporates both the present and future as-yet-unknown value of healthy ecosystems, and may be found across all scales of biodiversity – from genes through species and ecosystems to the entire biosphere. Simply put, we must maintain nature for our own benefit and for the benefit of our descendants. • For example, chemical compounds found naturally in plants, corals and other forms of biodiversity have provided spectacularly effective medicines for human use as well as promising insecticides and fungicides to protect crops. Fully half of the most-prescribed drugs in the United States, and a considerably higher fraction in developing countries, are derived from natural compounds.

• -From Conservation International (CI) website

Friday, October 4, 2013 Option value

1. This way of thinking is contrary to the emphasis his perspective places on the “picture” of community. 2. Even if a species or ecosystem does not have obvious economic value, it may contribute to the stability of the ecosystem as a whole

Friday, October 4, 2013 The Land Ethic - Major Themes

1. Expansion of the moral circle 2. The community concept 3. Critique of purely economic motives for conservation 4. The land ethic

Friday, October 4, 2013 The Land Ethic

• “An ethical relation to land [cannot] exist without love, respect, and admiration for land. • “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” • Practically speaking, how does the land ethic differ from ?

Friday, October 4, 2013