Paul Taylor on The Ethics of Respect for Nature - Classes

Paul Taylor on
The Ethics of Respect for Nature
MARK GREENE
Department of Philosophy
University of Delaware
[email protected]
www.vole.org
Expanding our moral horizons
All of nature
All life
Sentient life
Humans
The Ethics of Respect for Nature
• The biocentric outlook on nature
– Humans and others alike as ‘members of the
community of life’
– Ecosystems as webs of interdependence
– Organisms as teleological centers of life,
each pursuing a ‘good of its own’
– No grounds for human superiority
• The attitude of respect for nature
– Aim at promoting the good of organisms as a final end
– Consider actions that do this as obligatory
– Feel appropriately about things that are good / bad for
organisms
• A set of rules and standards (left open)
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The argument for expansion
• Responding to
– “All humans, simply in
virtue of their humanity,
have a greater inherent
worth”
• Taylor argues
– Alike as teleological
centers of life striving for
good of own
– Begs the question
– Baseless bias
– Merit vs. worth
• Issues?
–
–
–
–
–
Teleology
Fact-value gap
Applies to non-life
Straw man
…?
• The aristocracy /
meritocracy argument
Mark Greene
[email protected]
Philosophy
La
philosophie
gives
donne
the means
moyento
de parler
speak
with
vraisemblement
apparent authority
de
toutes
on
all matters,
choses, et
and
se to
faire
make
admireradmired
oneself
des moins
bysavants;
the less que
la jurisprudence,
learned;
while law,
la medicine
médicine et
les autres
and
the other
sciences
sciences
apportent
bring
des honneurs
honor
and riches
et des
upon
richesses
their à
ceux qui les cultivent.
practitioners.
– Rene Descartes, Discourse
Discours de
onlaMethod
méthode
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