Pollution and Environment Essay - Man Must Dominate Nature and the Envi

Man Must Dominate Nature and the Environment      Ã‚   How shall we deal with the environment? is an ethical question much discussed, but rarely answered with any well-thought-out justifications. Rather, individuals attempting to answer it have often made claims stating that certain things are "obvious." In this paper, I intend to analyze one of these ethical principles which is considered to be inherently obvious. For every culture has regarded certain things as "obvious" and needing no further explanation -- and every culture differs vastly on what it considers to be an "obvious truth." Thus, it seems that these "truths" are not, in themselves, "obvious." Rather, they require further scrutiny to determine their validity. Hence, in this paper I analyze a common environmental claim: "Everything natural has inherent value, and we should respect its right to exist." This paper is not meant to be a complete examination of environmental ethics; that would be beyond its scope. This question, however, lies at the heart of environmenta l ethics, and is certainly worth exploring.    Must we go through life refusing to do harm to any other natural entity, "living in harmony" with it, or "respecting its rights?" Or, if it is not true that we must, is it true that we should? In "Environmental Ethics," Barbara MacKinnon explains that ecocentrists believe "that we ought ... to regard nature with admiration and respect, because of their view that nature and natural beings have intrinsic value." (MacKinnon 327) MacKinnon also states that "ethical questions ... become matters of determining what is in the best interests of these life forms or what furthers or contributes to, or is a satisfactory fit with, some ecosystem." (MacKinnon 326)... ...n as the dominant species on the planet; moreover, it provides another explanation of why the proper concern of humankind is humankind, rather than an ecosystem or "life as a whole." If we are to remain a strong, healthy species, capable of employing the power of becoming everything that we can become, we must continue to see humanity as our own proper study.    Works Cited: MacKinnon, Barbara. "Environmental Ethics" in Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues, Second Edition. Ed Barbara MacKinnon. Albany: Belmont, 1998. Morris, Desmond. The Naked Ape. New York: Dell, 1967. Nietzsche, Friederich. Beyond Good and Evil. Trans. Walter Kaufmann. New York: Vintage, 1966. Nietzsche, Friederich. Thus Spoke Zarathustra in The Portable Nietzsche. Ed. and Trans. Walter Kaufmann. New York: Viking, 1954. Voltaire. Candide. New York: Dover, 1991.