PHIL 2270 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Land Ethic, Biocoenosis, Soil Contamination
14 Jun 2018
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“The Conceptual Foundations of the Land Ethics” - Callicott
Singer talks about animal liberation while Leopold talks about land liberation from the
bondages of slavery – the metaphor being that we have enslaved the land.
Leopold also states that a land ethics is “a limitation of freedom of action in the struggle
for existence”
According to Callicott this land ethics rests upon three scientific cornerstones:
1) Evolutionary Theory: serves the function of linking ethics with social organization and
provides a sense of “kinship with fellow creatures” as we all co-evolve.
2) Ecological Theory: provides an integrative link between human nature and
nonhuman nature – showing that animals, plants, land, and humans are all part of one
community (ecosystem).
3) Copernican Theory: we inhabit a small planet that is part of a larger cosmos of
interdependent planets, solar systems and galaxies
This view fostered by the land ethic leads to the following account of right action:
• An act is morally right if it helps to preserve the integrity and the beauty and the
stability of biotic community.
Examples of this ethic:
• It would be morally wrong for a farmer to clear a woods to increase profit if
doing so would result in soil contamination.
• It would be morally wrong for the federal authorities to allow wild populations of
deer, rabbits, etc. to increase unchecked – since this would threaten the integrity
and beauty of the biotic community.
According to Callicott, the starting point of ethics is the self, the individual ego.
Callicott observes that Leopold’s theory has not received the critical acclaim of which
it is worthy for a number of reasons:
1) Condensed prose style
2) Rejection of the cornerstones of traditional ethics
3) Practical implications of his ethics
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Document Summary
The conceptual foundations of the land ethics - callicott. Singer talks about animal liberation while leopold talks about land liberation from the bondages of slavery the metaphor being that we have enslaved the land. Leopold also states that a land ethics is a limitation of freedom of action in the struggle for existence . This view fostered by the land ethic leads to the following account of right action: an act is morally right if it helps to preserve the integrity and the beauty and the stability of biotic community. It would be morally wrong for a farmer to clear a woods to increase profit if doing so would result in soil contamination. It would be morally wrong for the federal authorities to allow wild populations of deer, rabbits, etc. to increase unchecked since this would threaten the integrity and beauty of the biotic community. According to callicott, the starting point of ethics is the self, the individual ego.
