Question

In our readings this week by Baxter and Leopold we see two different perspectives on the issue of our ethical responsibilities to non-human nature.

Answer 1

William Baxter argues that only human beings are capable of moral reasoning and higher entities on earth, so they need to be treated ethically and other creature, non-humans needn’t be treated as they are created for human beings and don’t have any capability for moral thinking. He supports mistreating nature if it doesn’t affect human beings.

Aldo Leopold on the other hand argues that morality evolved over a period of time beyond race, gender and species. He calls everyone to respect the land and all those living in it because human beings cannot survive without them. This he calls land ethics. He also suggests that our actions today on earth will have a long lasting and complex consequences.