Environmental

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Environmental Worldviews
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Dont be quick to ignore the beliefs of others,
even when they are different from your own. You
never really understand your own position on
environmental issues until you understand the
beliefs of those around you. Source
Cunningham and Saigo, Environmental Science A
Global Concern, 5th ed.
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What are Environmental Worldviews?
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A. Environmental Worldviews are philosophies
about the condition of the environment made by
a wide variety of people with different viewpoints
1. People can use the same data, use logic, and
end up with different conclusions because they
start with different assumptions and/or values
a. How people think the world works
b. What role people think they have in the world
c. What people believe is right or wrong
environmental behavior
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2. Worldviews are influenced by culture,
religion, political position, economic
standing, experiences of a particular group,
etc.
a. Worldviews are developed based on these
factors which help form our opinions about
the state of the environment
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Two Types of Environmental Worldviews?
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A. Atomistic (individual-centered) vs
Holistic/Ecocentric (earth-centered) Worldview
1. Atomistic tend to be anthropocentric
(human- centered) or biocentric (life-centered)

a. individual human needs
b. individual species or organism needs
2. Holistic/Ecocentric tends to focus on
sustaining the earths natural systems
(ecosystems), life- forms (biodiversity), and
life-support systems (biosphere)
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Environmental Worldviews
Holistic
Atomistic
Anthropocentric
Biocentric
Ecosystem
Biosphere
Biodiversity
Species
Organism
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Atomistic Biocentric
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A. Biocentric Worldviews premises...
1. species should be respected and protected
because it EXISTS
2. all species have a potential economic good
(for human use)
3. species are capable of adapting to change
environmental conditions through evolution and
speciation
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B. Concerned with the values to actions,
entities, or properties on the basis of their
effects on all living things, or on the
integrity of the biotic realm in general
1. All life has ethical standing
C. Belief of ethical responsibility to avoid
causing the premature extinction of a species
because of human activities
D. Protect the species (not individuals of a
species) thereby protecting the genetic
information unique to the species
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E. Some advocate equal consideration of all
living things, others advocate that some types
of organisms should receive more than others.
1. Should all species be protected because of
their intrinsic or potential instrumental
value to humans or their ecosystems?
a. Instrumental-the value something has based on
its usefulness to humans or the biosphere
b. Intrinsic-the value something has just
because it exists, regardless of any
instrumental value it may/may not have
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2. Should we protect all species, even those
that cause disease, eat our food, or otherwise
cause harm?
3. Should we protect only those keystone species
that the ecosystem relies on, and not those
that play a lesser role in the same ecosystem?
(ie. Many species relying on the Gopher
Tortoise for survival...without G.T.s, other
species would not survive)
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Atomistic Anthropocentric
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A. Anthropocentric Worldviews premises...
1. Anthropocentrists deny and/or ignore the
notion that non-human entities can have rights.
2. Measure the costs and benefits of actions
solely according to their impact on people .
a. May consider such criteria as...
i. impacts on human health
ii. economic costs/benefits
iii. aesthetic concerns
3. Anything that does not provide some
instrumental benefit to people in terms of
health, finances, nutrition, aesthetics, or
otherwise, is considered to be of negligible
value
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What is the Planet Management Worldview?
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4. Anthropocentric Subset Planetary Management
Worldview
a. Humans can and should manage the planet
mostly for their own benefit (for success)
b. Species are seen as parts of nature and have
instrumental value based on how useful they
are to humans
c. Resources are unlimited
d. Economic growth is good and unlimited
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e. Variations of Planetary Management
i. No-problem school We can solve any
environmental, population, or resource
problem with more economic growth and
development, better management, and better
technology
ii. Free-market school Best way to manage
the planet for human benefit is through a
free-market global economy with minimal
government interference and regulations
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iii. Responsible planetary management school
We can sustain our species with a mixture of
market-based competition, better technology,
and some governmental intervention that (1)
promotes environmentally sustainable forms of
economic development, (2) protects
environmental quality and private property
rights, and (3) protects and manages public
and common property resources
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iv. Spaceship-earth school The earth is seen
as a spaceship a complex machine we can
understand, dominate, change, and manage to
prevent environmental overload and provide a
good life for everyone. Pictures of the earth
from space led many people to realize that the
earth is our only home and we had better treat
it right.
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v. Stewardship school We have an ethical
responsibility to be caring and responsible
managers, or stewards of the earth. We can
and should make the world a better place for
our species and others species through
love,care, compassion, knowledge, and
technology
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f. Responsible planetary management,
Spaceship-earth and Stewardship philosophies
tend to be more environmentally friendly
(more holistic) than the No-problem and
Free- market philosophies (more anthropocentric)
i. However, those philosophies that are more
holistic are still human-based management
systems which sets them apart from
Biocentric and Holistic Worldviews
ii. As caretakers of the earth, we have a
responsibility to value individuals, species
and the biosphere
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Holistic/Ecocentric Worldviews
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A. Holistic/Ecocentric Worldviews
1. Considers the actions in terms of their
damage or benefit to the integrity of whole
ecological system (both abiotic and biotic)
a. Humans have an ethical responsibility not to
degrade ecosystems, biodiversity, and the
biosphere for now and the future based on both
the intrinsic and instrumental values
b. The well-being of an individual organism
(human or otherwise) is less important than
the long-term well-being of a larger integrated
system
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i. Example An ecocentrist might approve of
an action that harmed human health, caused
economic loss, and took a number of lives, if
such impacts were necessary to protect the
entire species, community, or ecosystem
c. Ecocentrism includes a wider variety of
entities AND it stresses the need to preserve
the connections that tie the entities together
into functional systems
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i. The planet and its resources are not ours to
do with as we wish...we are just part of a
highly complex system of interdependent
components living, working, surviving and
interacting together
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Additional Worldviews
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A. Environmental Wisdom Worldview
B. Ecofeminist Worldview
C. Social Ecology Worldview
D. Others?
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What is the Environmental Wisdom Worldview?
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A. Environmental Wisdom Worldview
1. Environmental Wisdom premises
a. ALL species are important and humans are not
in charge
b. Earths resources are limited and should not
be wasted
c. Some forms of economic growth are
environmentally beneficial and some are
harmful
d. Success depends on learning how the earth
sustains itself and integrating such scientific
lessons from nature into the ways we think and
act.
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2. Environmental Wisdom is a combination of
Biocentric and Holistic/Ecocentric views
a. Certain beliefs overlap in the these
Worldviews, but often conflict
i. An ecocentrist might favor reducing or
eliminating a particular species from an
ecosystem if it is foreign (ie introduced
species) to the system and judged to be
doing more harm than good, while a
biocentrist might object to this
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What is the Ecofeminist Worldview?
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A. An eco-feminist is a women involved in a
movement or theory that applies feminist
principles and ideas to ecological issues
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
1. Explores the relationships between women, the
earth, and male-dominated societies
a. Women tend to be more biocentric and/or
holistic
b. Believe the main cause of the worlds
environmental problems is not just
human- centeredness, but specifically
male- centeredness
i. Male-dominated societies (earn more of the
, own more property, more rights, etc.)
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ii. Suggest that oppression by men has driven
women closer to nature and made them more
compassionate and nurturing
iii. As oppressed members of society they
argue that women have more experience
dealing with interpersonal conflicts,
bringing people together, acting as
caregivers, and identifying emotionally with
injustice, pain, and suffereing
iv. Want to be given the same rights as men (in
all areas)
v. Allowed to have their views heard and
respected (in all areas)
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vi. Treated as equal partners
B. Ecofeminist Environmental Worldview
premises...
1. Wants to heal the rifts between humans and
nature
a. Want to put the emphasis back on gentleness,
caring, compassion, nonviolence, cooperation,
and love and the effect these human
characteristics can have in repairing the
damage done to the environment
i. The eco part of ecofeminist
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b. Wants to end oppression based on sex, race,
class, and cultural and religious beliefs
i. End to forcing women to become honorary
men by having to act like men (more
cut- throat, more masculine, more dominating)
to achieve success like men hence the
feminist part of ecofeminist
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What is the Social Ecology Worldview?
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A. Social Ecology Worldview
1. Built around 3 premises
a. Better versions of democratic communities
b. New forms of environmentally sustainable
production
c. Types of appropriate technology that are
smaller in scale, consume fewer resources and
less earth capital, and do not cause
environmental degradation of local ecological
regions
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• Do you think there are more Worldview
  Philosophies?
• If so, what premises would they be based on?
• Taking into consideration all of the Worldviews
  presented, which one is right? (Is there a
  right answer?)
• If so, how was the right answer
  determined...whose values? Whose beliefs?
• Is the right answer Atomistic or Holistic in
  nature?
• If no right answer, how can we find the solution?
• Do you have your own Worldview philosophy?
• If so, what would you call it and what would be
  the premises?
• (Save this one for the philosophical wonders of
  the midnight campfire...better yet, a 500 word
  essay!)

Yikes!