Katherine Elliot

PHIL 4302 R01

Professor Stephens
6 February 2018
Ineffective Environmental Ethic
In current times, there is much debate and inquiry into how we can get a majority of

people to develop a positively impactful environmental ethical code. The development of an

“environmental ethic” is a modern concept, but one that in the midst the environmental crisis, is

increasingly relevant. Despite its importance, developing a proper attitude towards the natural

world is not of importance to most people. This leads to the question, what makes it so difficult

to develop and navigate a positive environmental ethic? First, in terms of environmental issues,

many are incredibly interdisciplinary and opinions are informed from a multitude of

perspectives. This is evident in the multi-faceted Environmental Studies program here at

Fordham.1 Students are required to take classes with an environmental focus across many

disciplines in order to create a holistic worldview. Environmental issues are not simply left in the

environmental realm but rely equally on medicinal, economic, moral, political, etc.,

perspectives.2 If a person does not have an adequate understand of all of these issues, it can be

difficult to create an informed opinion and a proper environmental ethic.

An Environmental ethic is also difficult to create because it is difficult to understand how

much of the code should be based on moral understanding, and how much empirical ideals.

When making decisions regarding the environment, science should be constantly considered.

In current times, there is much debate and inquiry into how we can get a majority of

people to develop a positively impactful environmental ethical code. The development of an

“environmental ethic” is a modern concept, but one that in the midst the environmental crisis, is

1
"The Structure of the Environmental Studies Major ."
2
VanDeVeer, Donald, and Christine Pierce. The Environmental Ethics and Policy Book: Philosophy, Ecology, Economics.
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2014, 4.
increasingly relevant. Despite its importance, developing a proper attitude towards the natural

world is not of importance to most people. This leads to the question, what makes it so difficult

to develop and navigate a positive environmental ethic? First, in terms of environmental issues,

many are incredibly interdisciplinary and opinions are informed from a multitude of

perspectives. This is evident in the multi-faceted Environmental Studies program here at

Fordham.3 Students are required to take classes with an environmental focus across many

disciplines in order to create a holistic worldview. Environmental issues are not simply left in the

environmental realm but rely equally on medicinal, economic, moral, political, etc.,

perspectives.4 If a person does not have an adequate understand of all of these issues, it can be

difficult to create an informed opinion and a proper environmental ethic.

An Environmental ethic is also difficult to create because it is difficult to understand how

much of the code should be based on moral understanding, and how much empirical ideals.

Science needs to be heavily considered when making decisions regarding the environment.

However, people cannot simply make empirical claims and count them as truth, detailed inquiry

and discovery needs to occur to make empirical claims relevant. Furthermore, science does not

always provide an appropriate basis for all issues. On the other hand, an environmental ethic also

needs to heavily consider morality. But a specific issue with a moral perspective is that,

traditionally our moral code operate under anthropocentric assumptions. Specifically this

anthropocentric view, “is just the view that all and only humans have moral standing.”5 In most

existing ethical codes, the wellbeing of humanity is solely considered. So, how can we

appropriately apply these perspectives to issues that pertain to non-human beings? This would

3
"The Structure of the Environmental Studies Major ."
4
VanDeVeer, Donald, and Christine Pierce. The Environmental Ethics and Policy Book: Philosophy, Ecology, Economics.
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2014, 4.
5
Ibid., 12.
require a new ethical lens that many people are not willing to adopt. There are many existing

gaps in human-thinking that make it difficult to establish and adopt an environmental ethic.

All of these issues in developing an environmental ethic are easily translated to the issues

we face creating effective environmentally-focused legislation today. People developing policy

come from a variety of backgrounds, some politicians have backgrounds in law, economics,

business etc., and all have different perceptions on what influence both ethics and science should

have on informing the law. These disagreements have caused a stalemate in terms of passing

effective regulations and programs, especially on a national level. Politicians let their own

political affiliations and views get in the way of making any sort of sustainable change. This

difficulty is demonstrated in the ineffectiveness of the EPA’s Office of Civil Rights. This

specific office of the EPA was created in 1993 with the goal of enforcing the, “fair treatment and

meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with

respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws,

regulations, and policies.”6 However since its creation the agency is ineffective in upholding

environmental justice due to the pushback of certain politicians and lobbyist groups and the fear

of angering other powerful political names and companies. This especially true in the midst of

the Flint Water crisis in which the EPA’s Office of Civil Rights was complicit in resolving. This

issue highlights the difficulty in implementing effective legislation due to incredible variety in

terms of people’s environmental ethics. In the future, we must strive to make environmental

issues a worldwide issue, regardless of country ties, party lies or any sort of dividing affiliation.

Word Count: 629

6
II, Vann R. Newkirk. "The EPA's Failure to Protect People From the Environment." The Atlantic. September 30, 2016.
Accessed February 06, 2018.
Question: Obviously preaching for the need of a new environmental ethic is not working. How

do we frame this issue in different way that makes it more accessible and accepted by a variety

of people?