Environmental Ethics

Most people believe that philosophy only exists in books or lecture halls, but truly it is everywhere. When I first started learning about philosophy I was drawn to questions that related to the real world. I found the questions such as how humans fit into the natural world or what we owe to future generations to be fascinating. These questions were also a pathway to different moral frameworks. I considered utilitarian ideas about maximizing happiness while minimizing harm, deontological duties toward others and the natural world, and the view that ecosystems have intrinsic value independent of human needs.

The relationship between human health and the environment make these issues immediate: things like access to clean water and housing are prevelant in the world of ethics. The very activities meant to improve humanity like farming and energy production can introduce chemicals and pollutants that harm humans and wildlife. The balance between the positive and negative these issues bring force us to confront questions about our responsibility. Philosophy helps analyze these problems clearly, acting as a guide to what is righteous and what is wrong.

Lets look at these issues using multiple moral lenses. From a utilitarian perspective, some pollution might be tolerable if it prevents more overall evil and death from things like famine. From a deontological perspective, harming others or the environment is morally wrong regardless of the consequences, because even if pollution brings good consequences (cheap energy, food production, jobs), it still violates moral duties such as to treat other humans as ends in themselves, never merely as means. Polluting harms people’s health and well being and uses them for economic gain. Virtue ethics considers what a prudent person would do. Ethics of caring and communitarian perspectives remind me to consider relationships, ensuring that the most vulnerable in our communities are not overlooked.

Environmental justice is one of the concepts that has shaped my thinking the most. Low income and historically marginalized communities often face the most significant environmental hazards. Seeing this inequity has made me question how policies are designed and who benefits from them. Philosophical reasoning helps me understand our ethical obligations to protect communities that might otherwise be ignored.

Technology and innovation create even more complex questions. Genetically modified crops, bioengineered animals, and new energy sources can solve big issues but they also disrupt ecosystems and introduce new risks we can't predict. Philosophy does not give us easy answers, but it gives us the tools and way of thinking to weigh goodness and badness and act with foresight. We must ask ourselves how our choices and the policies we support can honor both human life and the environment.

Exploring environmental ethics has changed how I see the world. It has shown me that pholosophy is within the decisions we make, and the responsibilites we accept. At least for me, philosophy has become a guide for my life, and environmental ethics has become a framework through which I understand my responsibilities and the impact I can have on the world.