An Ecological Ethic

Abstract

Let us now step back from the biologic for a moment and draw out some of the ethical implications alluded to in the previous chapter. In this chapter we will see that Hegel’s account of life in the Science of Logic, when taken in conjunction with the properly normative account of human freedom provided in the Philosophy of Right, provides ontological grounds for the recognition of living species along with their various ecosystems as proper objects of ethical consideration for environmental ethics. We will start by reviewing some of the problems that have arisen in the more well known theoretical attempts to articulate human duties to non-human beings. Then we will see how a normative framework can be derived from the Hegelian account that implies a duty to preserve species, habitats, and biological diversity. Finally, I will suggest how the Hegelian account presented here might circumvent the shortcomings of the previously discussed theories while accommodating some of their concerns and provide solutions for some of the problems to which they call attention.