Environmental ethics: anthropocentric, biocentric and ecocentric approaches, dominion and stewardship, Christian and secular responses to the environmental crisis, and the application of ethical theories.

What this dot point is asking

You need to explain environmental ethics: the anthropocentric, biocentric and ecocentric approaches, the religious ideas of dominion and stewardship, Christian and secular responses to the environmental crisis, and the application of ethical theories, and then evaluate these positions. This is a key topic of A2 7 Global Ethics, asking what duties humans owe to the natural world and on what basis.

Anthropocentric, biocentric and ecocentric approaches

Dominion and stewardship

Christian and secular responses

Applying the ethical theories

The AS theories give different verdicts on the environment.

• Natural Moral Law roots environmental care in the order of creation and human flourishing, treating the preservation of life and the common good as grounds for protecting the environment.
• Situation Ethics asks what agape requires, which can support strong environmental action where it best serves people, present and future.
• Utilitarianism weighs the consequences for the happiness of present and future generations, and, for thinkers such as Singer, the suffering of sentient animals, often supporting conservation while resisting purely ecocentric claims.

Evaluating the approaches

A model evaluation paragraph might run: "There is real force in the claim that only an approach valuing nature for its own sake can address the environmental crisis: purely anthropocentric ethics value nature only instrumentally, and so may fail to protect it whenever short-term human interests conflict with the health of ecosystems, whereas ecocentric and biocentric views give nature intrinsic value and treat the whole system as worth protecting. Yet this is not the whole story, because the religious idea of stewardship grounds a strong duty of care without abandoning the special status of human beings, and even enlightened self-interest, recognising that human survival depends on a healthy environment, can motivate serious protection, while a thoroughgoing ecocentrism can seem to devalue human life by subordinating it to the system. The judgement, therefore, is that intrinsic-value approaches rightly correct a narrow anthropocentrism, but that stewardship and an enlightened, long-term anthropocentrism can also ground genuine environmental responsibility, so valuing nature for its own sake is powerful but not the only adequate basis."

Try this

Q1. What is the difference between dominion and stewardship? [2 marks]

• Cue. Dominion is the Genesis 1 idea of ruling over creation; stewardship interprets this as responsible caretaking, accountable to God.

Q2. Explain the difference between anthropocentric and ecocentric approaches to the environment. [6 marks]

• Cue. Anthropocentric approaches give intrinsic value only to humans and value nature instrumentally; ecocentric approaches value the whole ecosystem, prioritising the system over individuals.

Q3. "Stewardship is the best basis for environmental ethics." Discuss. [20 marks]

• Cue. Weigh stewardship's strong duty of care and accountability to God against the charge that it remains anthropocentric, comparing it with biocentric and ecocentric approaches. Reach a judgement.