PHIL202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Radical Environmentalism, Animal Rights Movement, Ecosystem Diversity
3 Feb 2017
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Document Summary
Are there moral requirements governing our treatment of the environment? . In many cases, the actions will produce bad consequences for a) human beings or b) other animals. X has an intrinsic value= x, itself, matter morally. X has instrumental value = x matters morally because of its relation to something which has intrinsic value. Conventional responses claim (very roughly) that the (non-sentient or non-rational) environment has instrumental or derivative value. Weak version: the (non-sentient) natural environment has some intrinsic value. Strong version: the (non-sentient) natural environment has more intrinsic value than the non-natural environment. Extreme version: the (non-sentient) natural environment is the only thing with intrinsic value. These responses leave open the morally correct way to respond in action to such value Environmentalism: the view that ecosystems or species have non-instrumental moral value status. Animal liberationism: the view that some non-human animals have non-instrumental moral status or value.
