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Lecture B
Ethical Issues
Overview
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Introduction
What does ethics mean?
Why talk about ethics?
Our religions
Sustainable ethics
The “Commons”
Conclusions
What Does Ethics Mean?
Dictionary:
“A discipline dealing with what is
good and bad, with moral duty and
obligation”
Why Talk About Ethics?
• A sense of right and wrong has to be built
into every level of society:
-individual
-community
-nation
-planet
Role of Religion
Religion, properly understood, is a
belief system that summons up that
which is most noble in us, it lifts us
up, and appeals to the highest and
best selves.
Current Believe System
Our current and dominant belief system,
grounded in economism, appeals to our lowest
selves, drawing out greed, fear and smallmindedness. It is based on domination,
specialization and competition.
Principles of Economism
1. Other forms of life are for human use
- human domination of nature
- earth viewed as dead
2. There are no limits to growth and consumption
- resource supplies infinite
-emphasis on consumption and constant growth
3. Decisions are based on narrow economic
concerns
-”invisible hand”of market will guide society
- concern for this generation only
more
4. Emphasis on the global economy and mass
culture
- globalization of economy leads to well-being
- mass-media/machine mediation
5. Power is centralized and exercised
- hierarchy/control
- citizens don’t need to get involved in politics
Result of Economism
• Overpopulation
• Overconsumption
Why do we have overpopulation?
• Cultural
• Lack of education
• Sense of power for men (defining what is a
man!)
• Sense of security in old age
• Breakdown of ethical value system
Why do we feel we need more
stuff
• Status
• Missing non-material goals and values in
life
• Media manipulation
What We Need To Do
Adopt a Sustainable Value System
• Respect Life
• Live Within Limits
• Value the Local
• Account for Full Costs
• Share Power
Where?
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personally
within a community
within a country
internationally
Personally
• Adopt a set of sustainable values
• Apply these sets of values in once personal,
professional and civic life
Business
• Adopt and follow a set of sustainable
principles
• As a first step adopt one of the following
principles: Valdez, CERES, Copernicus,
Natural Step)
• Determine the moral responsibilities to
other life forms in our economic activities.
Community, Nation and
International
• Incorporate our moral concept of justice
applicable to human interaction with non-human
life forms and their eco-system.
• Change constitution to protect the natural world
besides guaranteeing democracy, individual
freedom and rights to property
• Share power on all levels
• Install full-cost accounting
• Demonstrate concern for future generations
• Define true need and steady state
What are Human Commons?
1. Historical and abandoned commons
• Land for food gathering, pasture, hunting
and mining
• rivers and streams for fishing and water use
2. Partially abandoned commons
• Land, rivers and ocean for various waste
disposals
• Oceans for fishing
• Sound waves
Historical View at Land
• Indigenous people: Land is part of a living
being (Gaia, Mother Earth)
• Europeans: Nature was considered passive
relative to human (male) activities and
associated with the female.
• Today's Dominant Culture: Land in its
natural state is considered undeveloped and
unproductive
The Tragedy of the Commons
• Resources (taking things from the
commons)
• Pollution (putting things in the commons)
• Legislative set-up and feedback (how to
supervise needed authority and install
corrective feedbacks)
The World’s Scientists Warning
to Humanity
Human beings and the natural world are on a
collision course. If not checked, many of our current
practices put at serious risk the future that we wish
for human society and may so alter the living world
that it will be unable to sustain life in the manner that
we know.
A great change is required if vast human misery is to
be avoided and our global home on this planet is not
to be irretrievable mutilated.