Download property - Mount St. Joseph University

By: Ronald F. White, Ph.D.
Professor of Philosophy
College of Mount St. Joseph
• Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962)
• 1970s Environmental Movement
• 1970-Environmental Protection Agency
• Are ecosystems “persons” or “property”
– If persons…what is rights do ecosystems
have and what are our duties as humans?
– If property…how do we respect public
property rights?
• Tragedy of the Commons
• Two kinds of Theories
– Anthropocentric Theories
– Non-Anthropocentric Theories
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Humans are the Center of the Moral Universe
– Only humans have intrinsic value
– The Natural Environment has extrinsic value
– Nature as Property
» Private property
» Public property
Problems:
– Non-Scientific status of humans in evolutionary theory
– Dismal track record for anthropocentric theories
– Long-term v. Short-term Interests
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Problem of Future Generations
– Private Property v. Public Property
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Tragedy of the Commons
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• Root of the Problem: Moral obligations to
the least advantaged. (anthropocentric)
• Do present generations have duties
toward future generations?
– If so, what are those duties?
– How far into the future do these duties
extend? 1 generation or 100 generations?
– What happens when those duties conflict with
our duties toward the present generation,
especially the least advantaged present?
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Humans are not the Center of the Moral Universe
• Ecosystems have Intrinsic Value
– Eastern Religions
– Darwinism
Problems:
– Weak Human Incentive to preserve the environment
– Tendency to sacrifice poor powerless humans in the present
– Weak cultural support
• Stockholder Theory (Market Distribution)
– “When in Rome do as the Romans do.”
– Act on legality not morality
– Problems:
• Corrupt and/or weak governments
• Weak monitoring and enforcement of environmental laws,
especially in developing countries
• Stakeholder Theory (Social Distribution)
– “When in Rome do what is right.”
– Public Property-Private Property
– Governmental Protection of the Environment
• Problem of Future Generations
• Tragedy of the Commons
• “When everyone owns it nobody owns it?”
• Environmental Impact
– Pollution
– Resource Depletion
– Extinction
• Solutions
– Pass Environmental Protection Laws
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Problem: Monitoring and Enforcement at a Global Level
– Develop Global Environmental Protection Institutions
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Problems: Ineffective Global Institutions, Non-Compliance by Powerful Interests
– Teach humans to Respect Public Property
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Problem: Weak Public Schools (Tragedy of Commons)
– Expand private ownership of the environment
• Problem: Imprudent Ownership
– Owners Sacrifice Long-Term Sustainability for Short-Term Gain
– Ownership of Common Air and Waterways. (Flow)
• Pollution
– Air Pollution: Global Warming
– Water Pollution:
• Corporations
• Governments
– Resource Depletion
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Coal
Oil
Plants and Animals
Water