RACHEL CARSON'S ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS

2002 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Cafaro
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Environmental Ethics ◽  
Environmental Movement ◽  
Environmental Philosophy ◽  
Rachel Carson ◽  
Silent Spring ◽  
The Way

AbstractRachel Carson is well known as a founder of the modern environmental movement. This article argues that her life and writings have much to offer contemporary environmental philosophy. I begin by discussing the environmental ethics articulated in Silent Spring. I next examine Carson's earlier natural history writings and the non-anthropocentrism they express. I conclude with some suggestions for how Carson points the way forward for environmental ethics.

From Silent Spring to The Frog of War

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David K. Skelly
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Wild Populations ◽  
Rachel Carson ◽  
Chemical Agents ◽  
Silent Spring ◽  
The World ◽  
History Information ◽  
Wildlife Populations ◽  
The Impact

This chapter presents two examples to demonstrate that natural history is the necessary basis of any reliable understanding of the world. More than a half century ago, Rachel Carson revolutionized the public’s view of pesticides. The foundation of her success was the careful use of natural history data, collated from across North America. The examples she assembled left little doubt that DDT and other pesticides were causing a widespread decline in birds. More recently, the case for the impact of atrazine on wildlife was based on laboratory experiments, without the advantage of natural history observations. For atrazine, natural history observations now suggest that other chemical agents are more likely to be responsible for feminization of wildlife populations. Developing expectations for scientists to collect natural history information can help to avoid over-extrapolating lab results to wild populations, a tendency often seen when those lab results conform to preconceptions about chemicals in the environment.

Notes on Miki Kiyoshi’s Anthropological Humanism and Environmental Ethics

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-257
Author(s):  
Dennis Stromback ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Ethics ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Deep Ecology ◽  
Environmental Philosophy ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Philosophical Work ◽  
Kyoto School ◽  
Environmental Destruction ◽  
The Way

This article argues for the importance of using Miki Kiyoshi’s anthropological humanism as a theoretical resource for confronting the unfolding ecological crisis. What makes Miki’s anthropological humanism valuable towards this end, in particular, is in the way he blends multiple theoretical discourses—particularly Nishida and Marx—which speak to the concerns espoused by Deep Ecology and Marxist approaches to environmental philosophy. Unlike other Kyoto School thinkers deployed in the service of building an environmental ethics in recent years, Miki’s philosophical work offers social-economic alternatives to the problem of capitalism within a non-dual framework that seeks to be non-dogmatic. This article will discuss how Miki’s anthropological humanism can enrich those conversations taking place within the “green” and “red” movements by providing them with insights by which to contest and overcome anthropocentric views of reality and the system of capitalism believed to be responsible for the environmental destruction we see today.

scholarly journals Rachel Carson: Humanizing Nature

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikayla Grace Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Government Regulations ◽  
Rachel Carson ◽  
Scientific Responsibility ◽  
National Debate ◽  
Silent Spring ◽  
The World ◽  
To Come ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Chemical Pesticides ◽  
The Way

Rachel Carson was instrumental in changing the way the world viewed conservation. Her initial written works demonstrated the idea that humans were not the center of the earth’s ecosystems by describing the environment from the viewpoint of non-human creatures (Cafaro, 2011, para. 45-48). Carson’s most eminent publication, Silent Spring, was released at the beginning of the 1960s (Cafaro, 2011, para. 25). The book advocated Carson’s concept of enlightened anthropocentrism through the insistence that new scientific innovations should be questioned as to why, whether, and for what purpose they are put into practice (Walker & Walsh, 2012, p.19). Another issue sparked by Silent Spring regarded whether humans should alter nature for our purposes or attempt to leave it unchanged (Cafaro, 2011, para. 67). Silent Spring helped to spark a national debate about scientific responsibility, limitations on advances in technology, and chemical pesticides in general (Lear, 2013, p. 1). The fact that her arguments stimulated such intense discussion is a testimony to how influential she truly was. Furthermore, Silent Spring led to the banning of dichlorodiphenyltricholoroethane (DDT) production by 1972, along with the implementation of government regulations to safeguard the environment (Hecht, 2012, p. 154; Lear, 2013, p. 1). Carson also made individuals realize that what they put into the environment must be regulated in order to keep the effects from haunting them for generations to come. This undeniable truth continues to resonate today. 

scholarly journals Writing on the Wall and our Shortsightedness

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 102-106
Author(s):  
Savitha. G. P.
Keyword(s):  
Telephone Network ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Rachel Carson ◽  
Center Stage ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Silent Spring ◽  
Man And Nature ◽  
The Way

The Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, which brought the issue of pesticides to the center stage is dedicated to Albert Schweitzer, who said, “Man has lost the capacity to foresee and to forestall. He will end by destroying the Earth”. This paper will try to understand and analyse our position with regard to the prediction made by Albert Schweitzer. Are we still moving in the same direction of self-destruction or have we regained our capacity to foresee and forestall? Man’s interaction with nature has altered it in very significant ways which in turn has been affecting the life of man in unpredictable ways.  The way forward is from adverse Anthropocene to conscious Anthropocene. Shankar’s 2018 release, Akshay Kumar and Rajnikanth starrer 2.0 warn us about the problems of radiation which will wipe away the birds from Earth before us going the same way. How the overcrowded telephone network towers and the radiation from them will wreak havoc, if not checked right away is the point of discussion in the movie. 2016 release Remo D’ Souza’s A flying Jatt, starring Tiger Shroff also speaks of the impending doom if we do not manage our waste properly. The pollutants which we are releasing generously into the environment are nothing but our own suicide in installments. The writing has been on the wall for long. Poornachandra Tejaswi in his novel Chidambara Rahasya depicts the picture of a society which ignores this writing on the wall for short term gains and this shortsightedness results in the destruction of nature, culture and the life as we know. This paper intends to study the equation between man and nature as depicted in the above mentioned movies and literature.

KEBERPIHAKAN MEDIA TERHADAP ISU PELESTARIAN LINGKUNGAN HIDUP

Jurnal KATA ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Febrina Zulmi
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Environmental Ethics ◽  
Text Structure ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Environmental Preservation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Qualitative Descriptive ◽  
The Way

<p><em>Media bias will always be an interesting topic to be examined. Media plays some important roles in society. One of its roles is building public opinions. In this case, media has been assumed to be biased as it might take some advantages from its position. This study aims at investigating The Jakarta Post’s bias towards the environmental preservation issues (an ecolinguistic study). The method used in this study is qualitative descriptive method by applying Van Dijk’s model of critical discourse analysis. This research model does not only analyze the aspect of text structure but also social cognition and social context. The object for this study is the news texts taken from The Jakarta Post Online. The result of the study showed that The Jakarta Post showed its bias towards environmental preservation issues by positioning itself as a pro’s side . In the text structure level, its bias can be identified with the way it chose the theme, topics, schemes and lexical choices which were in accordance with environmental ethics principles. In the social cognition level, its bias can be identified with the nature of the knowledge involved in showing its position in accordance with environmental preservation mission. In the social context level, its bias can be identified with the social values reflected from the news and certain group domination involved in the Jakarta Post’s news report which was in accordance with pro-environmental preservation. Generally, The Jakarta Post showed its progressive attitude or tendency to the change by intensely discussing environmental issues which implied the ideas of improving the way people should preserve their environment.</em></p><p> </p><p><em>Keberpihakan media akan selalu menjadi bahan yang menarik untuk diteliti. Media memainkan peran penting dalam masyarakat. Salah satu peran media adalah membangun opini publik. Dalam hal ini, media telah diasumsikan memiliki keberpihakan karena media dapat mengambil keuntungan dari posisinya tersebut. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk melihat keberpihakan The Jakarta Post terhadap isu pelestarian lingkungan hidup (sebuah kajian ekolinguistik). Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode deskriptif kualitatif dengan menggunakan analisis wacana kritis model Van Dijk. Model penelitian ini tidak hanya menganalisis aspek struktur teks, melainkan juga kognisi sosial dan konteks sosial. Objek penelitian ini adalah teks berita yang diambil dari media berita online The Jakarta Post. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa The Jakarta Post menunjukkan keberpihakannya terhadap isu pelestarian lingkungan hidup dengan meposisikan dirinya sebagai pihak yang mendukung. Dalam tataran struktur teks, keberpihakannya dapat diidentifikasi dari tema, topik, skema wacana dan pilihan kata yang digunakan yang sesuai dengan prinsip-prinsip etika lingkungan. Dalam tataran kognisi sosial, keberpihakannya dapat diidentifikasi dari sifat pengetahuan yang dilibatkan yang menunjukkan posisinya yang sejalan dengan misi pelestarian lingkungan hidup. Dalam tataran konteks sosial, keberpihakannya dapat diidentifikasi dari nilai-nilai sosial yang tercermin dari berita dan dominasi kelompok yang dilibatkan dalam pelaporan berita yang ditulis The Jakarta Post yang berada pada posisi pro-pelestarian lingkungan hidup. Secara umum, The Jakarta Post menunjukkan sikap progresif atau cenderung kepada perubahan dengan mengulas secara intens isu-isu pelestarian lingkungan hidup yang secara tersirat menyarankan perlu adanya peningkatan terhadap upaya-upaya pelestarian lingkungan hidup.</em><em></em></p>

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