- "Environmental ethics is an established field of practical philosophy... Ethics exerts influence on a large range of disciplines including environmental law, environmental sociology, ecotheology, ecological economics, ecology and environmental geography."
The study of ethical issues related to the environment, including the value of nature, human responsibility and rights, and environmental justice.
Ethics and Philosophy: This topic focuses on the basic principles and theories of ethics and philosophy that guide environmental ethics. It includes topics such as moral and ethical responsibility, the intrinsic value of nature, and the relationship between human and non-human entities.
Ecological Systems: This topic examines the ecological systems and the interdependence of different living beings within an ecosystem. It also focuses on the impact of human activities on these systems and the resulting environmental problems such as pollution and climate change.
Environmental Justice: This topic deals with issues of fairness and equity in the distribution of environmental benefits and burdens. It examines the impact of environmental problems on marginalized communities and the need for environmental policies that are inclusive and equitable.
Sustainability: This topic focuses on the concept of sustainable development and the need to balance economic growth, environmental protection, and social well-being. It includes topics such as resource management, renewable energy, and green technologies.
Environmental Policy: This topic examines the role of government and other organizations in creating and enforcing environmental policies. It includes topics such as environmental regulations, international treaties on the environment, and the politics of environmental policy-making.
Environmental Economics: This topic examines the economic impact of environmental problems and the cost-benefit analysis of different environmental policies. It includes topics such as market-based solutions, environmental taxes, and the economics of climate change.
Environmental Education: This topic looks at environmental education as a means of promoting environmental awareness and conservation. It includes topics such as the role of schools and universities in promoting environmental education, environmental literacy, and the importance of environmental education in developing an environmentally sustainable society.
Environmental History: This topic focuses on the historical evolution of human-environmental relationships and the impact of historical events on current environmental problems. It includes topics such as industrialization, land use, and environmental activism.
Environmental Anthropology: This topic examines the relationship between human culture and the natural environment. It includes topics such as traditional ecological knowledge, indigenous peoples' perspectives on the environment, and the impact of Westernization on traditional environmental practices.
Animal Ethics: This topic focuses on the ethical treatment of animals. It includes topics such as animal rights, animal welfare, and the ethical considerations involved in using animals for food, research, and entertainment.
Biocentrism: This topic examines the idea that all living things have intrinsic value and deserve ethical consideration. It includes topics such as the importance of biodiversity, the ethics of species extinction, and the value of non-human beings in their own right.
Deep Ecology: This topic is a philosophical and ecological movement that emphasizes the interconnectedness of all living things and advocates for a radical shift in human consciousness to a more ecological worldview. It includes topics such as wilderness preservation, ecocentrism, and the biocentric egalitarianism.
Environmental Aesthetics: This topic explores the relationship between aesthetics and the environment. It includes topics such as the aesthetics of landscape, the relationship between beauty and the environment, and the ethics of environmental design.
Environmental Law: This topic examines the legal frameworks that regulate environmental protection and conservation. It includes topics such as environmental litigation, the role of international law in environmental protection, and the legal mechanisms used to enforce environmental regulations.
Environmental Health: This topic focuses on the impact of environmental factors on human health. It includes topics such as air and water pollution, toxicology, and environmental health risk assessment.
Anthropocentric Environmental Ethics: It is an environmental ethics that emphasizes human welfare above all other values.
Ecocentric Environmental Ethics: Ecocentric Environmental Ethics places importance on the intrinsic value of nature or the environment itself and advocates for its protection and preservation.
Biocentric Environmental Ethics: Biocentric Environmental Ethics believes that nonhuman living organisms have rights that need to be protected and humans are simply a part of the larger community of life.
Deep Ecology Environmental Ethics: This is the approach that supports non-human rights and whose main goal is to respect the ecology of the environment, understanding our role within and appreciation to it.
Ecofeminist Environmental Ethics: It is a feminist approach that combines women's concerns with ecology and highlights the linkage between the domination of women and the domination of nature.
Social Ecology Environmental Ethics: Social ecology aims to understand how social and environmental issues are interconnected and work together to create change.
Animal Rights Environmental Ethics: Animal rights and their treatment, including their use in research and experimentation, are prominent issues in environmental ethics.
The wilderness and the land preservation movement: The wilderness and land preservation movement focus on preserving natural landscapes and the ecological systems that exist within them.
Sustainability Environmental Ethics: The sustainability approach is mainly focused on maintaining environmental integrity and promoting social justice.
Environmental virtue ethics: Environmental virtue ethics emphasizes personal virtues, like respect, care, responsibility, and integrity, in relation to the environment.
Green Environmental Ethics: Green Environmental Ethics focuses on economic growth while maintaining ecological balance that does not destroy the environment.
Green anarchism: Green anarchism is a form of anarchism that prioritizes environmentalism, social ecology, and non-violence.
Conservation Environmental Ethics: Conservation Environmental Ethics emphasizes targeting the protection of species, landmarks and preserving different ecologies, with the overall goal being to stop or reduce human-induced environmental detriment.
Cosmic Environmental Ethics: Cosmic environmental ethics recognizes the interconnectedness of all living and non-living beings across various universes and emphasizes universal morality.
- "The main competing paradigms are anthropocentrism, physiocentrism (called ecocentrism as well), and theocentrism."
- "These decisions raise numerous questions."
- "Should humans continue to clear cut forests for the sake of human consumption?"
- "Why should humans continue to propagate its species, and life itself?"
- "Should humans continue to make gasoline-powered vehicles?"
- "What environmental obligations do humans need to keep for future generations?"
- "Is it right for humans to knowingly cause the extinction of a species for the convenience of humanity?"
- "How should humans best use and conserve the space environment to secure and expand life?"
- "What role can Planetary Boundaries play in reshaping the human-earth relationship?"
- "The academic field of environmental ethics grew up in response to the works of Rachel Carson and Murray Bookchin and events such as the first Earth Day in 1970..."
- "Two papers published in Science had a crucial impact: Lynn White's 'The Historical Roots of our Ecologic Crisis'... and Garrett Hardin's 'The Tragedy of the Commons'..."
- "An essay by Aldo Leopold in his A Sand County Almanac, called 'The Land Ethic,' in which Leopold explicitly claimed that the roots of the ecological crisis were philosophical."
- "The first international academic journals in this field emerged from North America in the late 1970s and early 1980s..."
- "The US-based journal Environmental Ethics in 1979..."
- "The Canadian-based journal The Trumpeter: Journal of Ecosophy in 1983."
- "The first British-based journal of this kind, Environmental Values, was launched in 1992."