The Land Ethic By Aldo Leopold

Leopald believes that the land ethic is both “an evolutionary possibility and an ecological necessity” because throughout the course of philosophy, there has been an evolution from first ethics which “dealt with relation between individuals”(p238) to a land ethic which now focuses on the relation between humans and non-human, morally considerable beings. This transition has been an evolution of sorts and has allowed, for some people, to broaden the view of life, ethics, and how one approaches different scenarios that involve multiple morally considerable beings. The Land Ethic is an ecological necessity because at this point in time humans view the world with an anthropocentric view. This has

Aldo Leopold is another American environmentalist who was dominant in the development of modern environmental ethics. Aldo was more for holistic ethics regarding land. According to him, “An ethic, ecologically, is a limitation on freedom action in the struggle for existence. An ethic, philosophically, is a differentiation of social from anti-social conduct.” He describes in his article that politics and economics are advanced symbioses in which free-for-all competition has been replaced by co-operative mechanism with an ethical content.” He thought that ethics direct individuals to cooperate with each other for the mutual benefit of all. Also he believes that community should be

The relationship between people and their environment in A Land Remembered is one where the profit from land exploitation is naturally corrupting and exponentially increases the exploiters lust for larger profit, leading to the exploiter planning larger scale endeavors in the future. The author, Patrick D. Smith (1984), suggests the idea that communities naturally grow in a hedonic cycle to crave more resources to fuel loftier endeavors that require even more resources from the environment, an idea that is also discussed by Aldo Leopold in the Land Ethic as wholly negative, and that is also part of my world view that is rather more optimistic.

Growing up in Switzerland and Oregon, I learned that nature is greatly valued and it is necessary to respect the environment to prevent impending environmental collapse. Living in a society whose morals and ethics include

In Paul Taylor’s essay, “The Ethics for Respect for Nature,” he argues that… In this paper I will first describe Taylor’s concept of “respect for nature.” I will then explain the part this attitude plays in rationally grounding a biocentric outlook on environmental ethics. Lastly, I will present Rosalind Hursthouse’s criticism of Taylor’s view, and state how Taylor might respond to this criticism.

“One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen. An ecologist must either harden his shell and make believe that the consequences of science are none of his business, or he must be the doctor who sees the marks of death in a community that believes itself well and does not want to be told otherwise,” said by none other, Aldo Leopold. In A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold, an American environmentalist, brought a new idea to the environmentalist’s table: “land ethic.” His idea of a land ethic is a moral responsibility of humans to the natural Earth. Leopold’s idea has been discussed since the publication by a wide variety of people, from the public to scholars. Since

“Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land… harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left” (Pg 189). In less than three sentences, to me this quote summarizes everything that Leopold is trying to say in his novel. Metaphorically, the quote is talking about two friends. In regards to the novel, Leopold is saying that humanity cannot take and use the lands resources without making a conscious effort to replenish them. The non-fiction novel A Sand County Almanac written by Aldo Leopold characterizes the importance in loving, caring and understanding our environment, land and ecosystems that surround us.

Leopold discusses conservation as homo sapien involvement to respect, love, and care for the ecosystem. That we need to step back at certain times to appreciate the environment, but also harvest from the landscape and bear fruit. So conservation involves both human and non human involvement. Understanding this concept further we need to understand how we do not care and respect the environment. We need to learn what our communities problem

The ethics of sustainability has become increasingly relevant as more and more countries acknowledge global climate change and the subsequent environmental crisis. Recent evidence strongly suggests that the vast majority of environmental crises, including climate change, are caused and perpetuated by humans. Perhaps the silver lining to the fact that environmental crises are anthropogenic is that we, as a species, have the opportunity to control the problem by changing our behaviors. This paper explores different analyses and applications of Immanuel Kant and Aldo Leopold’s ethics regarding sustainability and personal obligation, and seeks to answer the question: what is the best way to foster a sense of environmental ethics and awareness in humans? I have concluded that perhaps the best way to protect the environment is for each person to take minute steps towards living a sustainable lifestyle. These steps, such as reducing trash or modifying our diets, are not time consuming or expensive and can be undertaken by anyone. Although these lifestyle changes may seem insignificant, if everyone reduced their trash output or ate less meat, there would be huge changes in our collective output. In order for this method to work, however, each person must first feel a moral responsibility to play his or her part in protecting the environment. In fact, a sense of personal responsibility may be the single most important factor in creating and implementing more sustainable practices.

The Malheur Occupation, and the subsequent reasons behind it, have brought to the public the ethical debate of who owns the land, and to whom does the government owe an ethical debt. Does the government owe and ethical debt to the ranchers and their community and lifestyle, conforming to Pinchot’s conservationist points of view? Or does the government owe an ethical debt to the environment and environmental research going on within the confines of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, following Muir’s preservationist points of view? This ethical debate revolves around the Production of Nature: the theory that nature and the environment, if it was ever to be truly separated from the populace, is now a product of human industry and

“I came home one Christmas to find that land promoters, with the help of the Corps of Engineers had dyked and drained my boyhood hunting grounds on the Mississippi river bottoms…. My hometown thought the community enriched by this change. I thought it impoverished it” (Leopold). Could you imagine your life, the place you found comfort and passion throughout your entire youth, and everything you devoted your adulthood towards was just stripped away? Suppose it was all taken from you because you moved halfway across the country to work towards everything you believed in. This is exactly how Aldo Leopold felt during his career as an environmentalist and author. Leopold’s entire childhood and environment growing up influenced him into

In his essay titled "The Land Ethic," Aldo Leopold argues that humans should extend ethical behaviors to the natural environment or in other words, ‘the land.' The author points out that, thus far, humans have only acted ethically towards one another. However, he believes that it is time for humans also to start to treat the environment with the same respect and dignity that we have for the members of our own species. The author states that he is aware that we cannot entirely prevent utilizing nature as a resource and a commodity. Nonetheless, he concludes that humans should have the responsibility to take care of the environment and to assure its continued existence.

Let us consider the two key words of the theme, appreciate and conserve. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word “appreciate” as to, “recognize the worth of” (“Appreciate”). Leopold wants society to take a moment to recognize the worth of nature by providing us with a descriptive glance at elements of nature that we may often take for granted, such as animals foraging for food or the history of a tree. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word “conserve” as to, “protect (something, especially something of environmental or cultural importance) from harm or destruction” (“Conserve”). Once we are able to appreciate nature, we become more aware of the importance of conservation. When you do not care about nature, it is easy to overuse and mistreat it in such a way that it harms the environment. On the contrary, if one is able to truly appreciate nature, he or she is much more conscious about the

“The Land Ethic” written by Aldo Leopold was critiqued by J. Baird Callicott. “The Land Ethic” in short explained the idea that humans are not superior to animals or species on earth, but humans should live on earth as simple members. (Leopold, 2013) Callicott found three things that lead to the confusion, contempt, and contempt of Leopold’s writings.

Another adjustment to the microscope, and we can examine Leopold's biocentric opinion of how environmental ethics should be governed. His approach enlarges the moral category to include soils, waters, plants and animals and claims our obligation is to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. Philosophers Devall and Sessions further define the biocentric view with the concept of deep ecology. Devall and Sessions argue that "the well-being and flourishing of human and non-human life have value in themselves. These values are independent of the usefulness of the non-human world for human purposes." (503)