Environmental Values

The word "value" means worth. It also refers to an ethical precept on which one base their behavior. Values are shaped by the culture in which individuals live and by our experiences. However, there are values that are held high by most cultures. These include fairness and justice, compassion and charity, duties and rights, human species survival and human well-being. Environmental Values brings together contributions from philosophy, economics, politics, sociology, geography, anthropology, ecology and other disciplines, which relate to the present and future environment of human beings and other species. In doing so, we aim to clarify the relationship between practical policy issues, and more fundamental underlying principles or assumptions. In this paper I will discuss the most important principles of ecofeminism, pluralism, and environmental pragmatism, identify which of these approaches best compliments my values and ethical beliefs regarding environmental issues, and explain how my values and ethics defines my responsibility to the natural environment.

Ecofeminism is a social and political movement which unites environmentalism and feminism, with some currents linking deep ecology and feminism. Ecofeminists argue that a relationship exists between the oppression of women and the degradation of nature, and explore the intersectionality between sexism, the domination of nature, racism, speciesism, and other characteristics of social inequality. Ecofeminism, or ecological feminism, is a term coined in 1974 by FranÐ*oise d'Eaubonne. Ecofeminism is a philosophy and movement born from the union of feminist and ecological thinking, and the belief that the social mentality that leads to the domination and oppression of women is directly connected to the social mentality that leads to the abuse of the environment. (Wikipedia) In some society women are treated as inferior to men, just as 'nature' is treated as inferior to 'culture', and humans are understood as being separate from, and often superior to the natural environment. Throughout our history nature is portrayed as feminine and women are often thought of as closer to nature than men. Women's physiological connection with birth and child care has partly led to this close association with nature. The menstrual cycle, which is linked to lunar cycles, is also seen as evidence of women's closeness to the body and natural rhythms.

The five basic principles of ecofeminism are

* A belief in the interconnectedness of all forms of life and that each act effects the whole.

* Because of this interconnectedness, all forms of oppression affect us all. There are two kinds of power: power over, and power within. Power from within is empowerment and is unlimited and renewable.

* Process determines outcome. This involves less of how to lay out rules and more of how to listen.

* Diversity is needed in the system to maintain stability. (This is true for political and economic systems also.)

* All life is sacred; therefore, all is interconnected with the sense of the sacred.

Ecofeminism challenges environmental philosophy to dispose of postures in support of supposedly gender-free abstract individualism and "rights" fixations and to become aware that human relationships (between self and the our environment) are constitutive, not peripheral. Consequently caring for relationships and related embeddedness provides foundation for ethical behavior and moral theory. Politically, ecofeminists work in a broad range of efforts to stop the progress of destructive policies and practices and to create alternatives rooted in community-based legality that honors the self-determination of women as well as men and that locates the well-being of human societies within the well-being of the entire earth community. Spiritually, ecofeminists are drawn to practices and orientations that nurture experiences of non-duality and loving reverence for the sacred whole that is the cosmos.

Pluralism refers to the co-existence of many values or other human traits in a society.

Focusing on the purpose of enabling individuals to pursue happiness, pluralism views the coexistence of differences in values as real, unavoidable and potentially useful and good. Political philosophers trace the origins of the concept of pluralism to Aristotle in 350 BCE. In Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle wrote that the ultimate aim of life is for individuals to find happiness in "living well and doing well." According to Aristotle, happiness depends on virtue, and on how society makes choices that allow that happiness to occur. There are different ways of achieving virtue and organizing society to make that happiness possible. Unfortunately, not all ways are equally good. Aristotle suggested that choices about how to achieve happiness should be consistent with practical wisdom, maintaining the viability of the social group, allowing reflection and the search for knowledge, achieving that which is noble or beautiful, and doing the right thing at the right time in the right amount. Aristotle thus tried to define a medium ground where people could achieve a balance in their pursuit of individual happiness with the benefits he or she gained from cooperation in society.

The four basic principles of Pluralism states that

* Inclusion does not mean exclusion

* Difference does not mean alienation

* Distinction strengthens the whole

* Silence obscures and weakens the truth

Without pluralism, there is a strong possibility that groups will turn inward, excluding

others and becoming more narrow-minded about which values are "right." Strong

communities are important, but communities also need to be able to cooperate