Beyond Humanism Philosophical Essays on Environmental Ethics

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About the Author Dr. Saji Varghese, is presently an Associate Professor at Lady Keane College, Shillong. He has done Master's Degree in Philosophy from North Eastern Hill University, Shillong and also completed his Doctoral Degree from NEHU, Shillong in 2003. He is the author of three books, Political Philosophy of Antonio Gramsci (2008), An Introduction to Social and Political Philosophy (2007), A Guide to Philosophy (2005). Besides publishing papers in journals of national and international repute, he has presented papers in a number of National and International seminars.

Preface Environmental Ethics as a field of enquiry is a rational response to man's relation to nature. Traditional ethics is predominantly man centred as human beings only are treated as moral agents. It denies or ignores the values of nature. The objective of environmental ethics, on the other hand is contrary to traditional ethics. It tries to annihilate the view that only humans are the legitimate moral agents and apart from human, no other sentient being has that right. Environmental ethics tries to resist the materialistic trend of environmental dualism and thereby conceives all biotic community as the members of a single, unified whole. It is concerned with the intimate relationship between man and nature. It tries to restore the moral dignity of all sentient beings by admitting the intrinsic or non-instrumental value of nature. It is needless to mention here the concerns shown, in the recent past, by the scientists and leaders of the different countries to protect the environment and making the world realize the danger involved in ignoring it. The need for such urgency is because of the extent of damage which has already been caused to the environment. Till the recent past, we, the human species, viewed ourselves as the most important component of the earth, believing that the resources were inexhaustible and felt God made everything for the use of man. We could exploit anything, to any limit that we needed or desired to. The degradation of the environment has assumed a global dimension in the present scenario and at the threshold of the twenty-first century, man has learnt to realise the ill consequences of his conscious and unconscious activities for the fulfilment of his never ending desires.

The present volume, a conglomerate of a number of historical and Philosophical essays from scholars of different regions of India, do present varieties of perspectives on environment. It is a comprehensive attempt to understand the ethical response humans ought to have towards the nature. The pernicious. degradation on the environment results in a threat to the existence of life itself on the earth. The 'wakeup call, though late, is an effort to let the world know about the need to create an awareness among the so called 'rationales' of the moral values attached to various ingredients of the nature of which he is a part. There are also attempts to remind ourselves of the traditional arguments presented by thinkers on the moral concerns of the environment. The book is an outcome of the National Seminar on the theme Environmental Ethics in Tribal Societies: With Special Reference to North-East India' organized by the Department of Philosophy Lady Keane College, Shillong on 21st and 22nd of November, 2012.

Introduction Environmental ethics has captured an increasing amount of interdisciplinary interest over the past fifty years, largely attributed to the emergence of the environmental movement and the widespread concerns brought about by the industrial impact of Western Civilization. It is needless to mention here the concerns shown, in the recent past, by the scientists and leaders of the different countries to protect the environment and making the world realize the danger involved in ignoring it. The need for such urgency is because of the extent of damage which has already been caused to the environment. Till the recent past, we, the human species, viewed ourselves as the most important component of the earth, believing that the resources were inexhaustible and felt God made everything for the use of man. We could exploit anything, to any limit that we needed or desired to. An eminent authority on high energy physics, Fritjof Capra says "Even discounting the threat of a nuclear catastrophe, the global ecosystem and the further evolution of life on earth are seriously endangered and may well end in a large-scale ecological disaster. Overpopulation and industrial technology have contributed in various ways to a severe degradation of the natural environment upon which we are completely dependent for life". The practical purpose of environmental ethics is to provide moral grounds for social policies aimed at protecting the earth's environment and remedying environmental degradation. While predictions concerning the scale and extent of humanity's environmental impact are often scientifically and politically controversial, ethicists have sought to construe theoretical. Frame works that could adequately characterize the morality of human interaction with the non-human aspects of the ecosphere. The development of environmental ethics has been one of the most exciting developments in contemporary philosophy, second only, perhaps, to the development of feminist philosophy. Along with feminism, environmentalism addresses real problems in contemporary society that demand the development of wise discussions and dispositions. In all, both have produced some excellent and challenging insights. These are timely issues that have attracted the attention of people in many fields; the discussions are not limited merely among philosophers. In fact, if we count nature writing, such as Thoreau's Walden, as the beginning, environmentalism arrived substantially earlier in literature, than in philosophy. Meanwhile, it has attracted the interest of historians, economists, public policy specialists, and others.

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