Theories of ethics try to answer the question, ‘How ought we to live?’. An environmental ethic refers to our natural surroundings in giving the answer. It may claim that all natural things and systems are of value in their own right and worthy of moral respect. A weaker position is the biocentric one, arguing that living things merit moral consideration. An ethic which restricts the possession of moral value to human persons can still be environmental. Such a view may depict the existence of certain natural values as necessary for the flourishing of present and future generations of human beings. Moral respect for animals has been discussed since the time of the pre-Socratic philosophers, while the significance to our wellbeing of the natural environment has been pondered since the time of Kant and Rousseau. The relation of the natural to the built environment, and the importance of place, is a central feature of the philosophy of Heidegger. Under the impact of increasing species loss and land clearance, the work on environmental ethics since the 1970s has focused largely on one specific aspect of the environment – nature in the wild.
This essay provides an overview of the field of environmental ethics. I sketch the major debates in the field from its inception in the 1970s to today, explaining both the central tenets of the schools of thought within the field and the arguments that have been given for and against them. I describe the main trends within the field as a whole and review some of the criticisms that have been offered of prevailing views.
Online paper by John C. Bergstrom, Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. Prof. Bergstrom teaches and conducts research related to natural resource, environmental and agricultural topics and issues. As a Christian professor, he is interested in the integration of Biblical teaching on stewardship and our responsibilities as stewards and managers of God’s creation.
This book is about the extent, origins and causes of the environmental crisis. Dr Northcott argues that Christianity has lost the biblical awareness of the inter-connectedness of all life. He shows how Christian theologians and believers might recover a more ecologically friendly belief system and life style. The author provides an important corrective to secular approaches to environmental ethics, including utilitarian individualism, animal rights theories and deep ecology. He contends that neither the stewardship tradition, nor the panentheist or process ecological theologies have successfully mobilised the Christian tradition. He demonstrates that the Hebrew Bible contains an ecological message which is close to the traditions of many primal and indigenous peoples and which provides an important corrective to instrumental attitudes to nature in much modern philosophy and Christian ethics.
Environmental ethics is the discipline in philosophy that studies the moral relationship of human beings to, and also the value and moral status of, the environment and its non-human contents. This entry covers: (1) the challenge of environmental ethics to the anthropocentrism (i.e., human-centeredness) embedded in traditional western ethical thinking; (2) the development of the discipline from the 1960s and 1970s; (3) the connection of deep ecology, feminist environmental ethics, animism and social ecology to politics; (4) the attempt to apply traditional ethical theories, including consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics, to support contemporary environmental concerns; (5) the broader concerns of some thinkers with wilderness, the built environment and the politics of poverty; and (6) the ethics of sustainability and climate change.
Environmental ethics, as a field of philosophical study, began in the 1970s and 1980s, in part as a result of the environmental movement and largely in Anglo-American work. Its roots trace to the monumental technological discoveries of the twentieth century, such as nuclear power and chemical pesticides; their overuse or misuse; and recognition of the environmental degradation these technologies have caused. Two paradigm examples of how the misuse of technology has caused massive environmental damage and consequently raised new ethical questions are DDT and nuclear power. From the point of view of the relative importance of human interests, the new field of environmental ethics can be divided roughly into anthropocentric, non-anthropocentric, and mixed approaches.
Harvard Business Review Family Business Handbook: How to Build and Sustain a Successful, Enduring Enterprise by Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer, Harvard Business Review Press
Navigate the complex decisions and critical relationships necessary to create and sustain a healthy family business–and business family. Though “family business” may sound like it refers only to mom-and-pop shops, businesses owned by families are among the most significant and numerous in the world. But surprisingly few resources exist to help navigate the unique challenges you face when you share the executive suite, financial statements, and holidays. How do you make the right decisions, critical to the long-term survival of any business, with the added challenge of having to do so within the context of a family? The “HBR Family Business Handbook” brings you sophisticated guidance and practical advice from family business experts Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer.
Journal of Family Business Management (JFBM) is a refereed journal publishing since 2011. JFBM provides broad and unrivalled coverage of all aspects of family business. JFBM offers a unique focus on behavioural and applied research, particularly considering the impact of research on policy and practice; it aims to communicate the latest family business research and knowledge worldwide for the benefit of scholars and family business practitioners. Other articles unique to JFBM are our ‘In conversation with’ series which provides insights from practicing family business advisors about how they are using theory in their practice now. JFBM aims to stimulate dialogue between scholars and practitioners in a timely manner.
The family business arena is dynamic. Family business owners, managers, and practitioners need to be aware of changing management approaches, processes and strategies which allow them to respond to global competition in an increasingly chaotic world, while keeping in mind the unique character, culture, and attributes of family owned businesses.
Journal of Family Business Strategy publishes research that contributes new knowledge and understanding to the field of family business. The Journal is international in scope and welcomes submissions that address all aspects of how family influences business and business influences family. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
Published as a refereed journal since 1988, Family Business Review (FBR) is the leading scholarly publication devoted exclusively to exploration of the dynamics of family-controlled enterprise, including firms ranging in size from the very large to the relatively small. FBR is focused not only the entrepreneurial founding generation, but also on family enterprises in the 2nd and 3rd generation and beyond, including some of the oldest companies in the world. In addition, the journal publishes interdisciplinary research on families of wealth, family foundations and offices. The journal covers areas such as but not limited to the following:
In this Very Short Introduction Robin Attfield traces the origins of environmental ethics as a discipline, and considers how it defends the independent value of living creatures, and the need to make decisions informed by the needs and interests of future generations. Exploring the diverse approaches to ethical decisions and judgements, he highlights the importance of making processes of production and consumption sustainable and of addressing human population levels, together with
policies for preserving species, sub-species, and their habitats. Along the way Attfield discusses different movements such as Deep Ecology, Social Ecology, the Environmental Justice movement and the Green movement, and also considers the attitudes to the environment of the world’s religions, including the
approach from the major religions and the contributions of the indigenous religions of Asia, Africa and North America. Analysing the current threat of climate change, and proposals for climate engineering, he demonstrates how responsibility for the environment ultimately lies with us all, from states and corporations to individuals, and emphasises how concerted action is required to manage our environment ethically and sustainably.
