Human – Environment Connection: Worldwide Views and Approaches

In class we covered a number of reasons for why there is an balance between man and nature. Some of the points we looked at were: Neo-Malthusian (Demographic pressure – overuse), Ignorance (Unintentional consequences), Poor Valuation (No economic value), Exploitation (Deliberately pursued) and Domination (Above nature). We also looked at ancient environmental ethics such as Australian Aborigines belief that the environment is a source of sacred teachings, and Plato who said "The land is our ancestral home and we must cherish it even more than children cherish their mothers.” Then we delved into more modern ways of thinking such as forester, wildlife manager Aldo Leopold and his ideas of "good" and "bad" species (such as the wolf). He eventually changed his mind but many people follow that line of thinking.

We then went through the concept of environmental justice and the terms Anthropocentric, Biocentric and Ecocentric?. I lean more towards Biocentrism in that I believe everything we do in some way may impact the environment and that all life has ethical standing. In other words, we must be careful what we do and how we interact with the environment so as to avoid damaging it and interrupting natural cycles as best we can.