22.3: Environmental Ethics

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Page ID: 37799

Melissa Ha and Rachel Schleiger
Yuba College & Butte College via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative

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Introduction

The concept of ethics involves standards of conduct. These standards help to distinguish between behavior that is considered right and that which is considered wrong. As we all know, it is not always easy to distinguish between right and wrong, as there is no universal code of ethics. For example, a poor farmer clears an area of rainforest in order to grow crops. Some would not oppose this action, because the act allows the farmer to provide a livelihood for his family. Others would oppose the action, claiming that the deforestation will contribute to soil erosion and global warming. Right and wrong are usually determined by an individual's morals, and to change the ethics of an entire society, it is necessary to change the individual ethics of a majority of the people in that society.

Moral extensionism defines how far a persons values extend outside of themselves (Figure 7.2a). There are many variables that can influence where the limit lies for each individual person. For example: religion, culture, education, and personal interests (just to name a few).

Scope of consideration for moral extensionism from me, to family, to humanity, to wildlife, to habitats, to the world — **Figure \(\PageIndex{a}\):** Scope of consideration for moral extensionism. Image by Rachel Schleiger (CC-BY-NC).

Attribution

Modified by Rachel Schleiger from Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation by Openstax (licensed under CC-BY)