Aristotle developed an ethical theory that focused on living a happy and flourishing human life. He proposes that living a good life is achieved by living a life of moral virtue (Hourdequin 2015). The way to develop our moral virtues is through our behavioral actions. A person can foster moral character through a process of self-cultivation by habit. The goal of cultivating moral virtue is to have “practical wisdom” in which an individual knows how to act in a particular situation or environment to promote living of a good life. This theory of ethics promotes the importance of relationships. A virtuous relationship is defined in so much as a person acts in accordance with achieving the ideal moral virtue in their behavior for that situation or “environment”.
An “environment” can simply be a label for the parameters of a situation in which something exists. Defining “environment” seems rather subjective in so far as that it can be applied to many different contexts. We live in a world where often-social environments and natural environments are distinguished as different. There seems to exist a prominent worldview that a dichotomy exists between humans and nature. It also could be reasoned that the humans are part of nature and everything that exists is part of the natural environment. The question can be raised on how one should act in the natural environmental to live a good and flourishing life?
Aristotle’s virtue ethics do not explicitly expand into this area of moral human relationships and actions in the natural environment, however the principles of his ethical theory can apply to socio-environmental relationships. The modern theory of environmental virtue ethics draws strongly from Aristotle’s ethics as well as Non-Western ethical theories. Philip Cafaro identifies modern authors and environmentalists as having developed theories of environmental virtue ethics. Henry David Thoreau is seen to value simplicity, while Aldo Leopold places importance upon one’s attentiveness to nature, whereas Rachel Carson seems to see significance in the virtue of humility (Cafaro 2001).
Over the course of the next two weeks I wish to cultivate my moral virtues through my behavior in my natural environment. I plan to peruse an environmentally virtuous behavior in hopes of enriching my life by strengthening my understanding of the natural world and my socio-environmental relationship with it. Living a morally virtuous life in regards to the environment will further my living a good and flourishing life. Leopold developed an ethic of “enlightened self-interest” with a goal of furthering knowledge and perception. I will specifically focus on nurturing Leopold’s prominent virtue of “attentiveness to nature” (Cafaro 2001). Fostering a greater awareness to my natural environment could further my understanding of the world and myself and ultimately leading to a fully developed moral socio-environmental relationship. This virtue applies to varying situations and activities that involve my engagement with the natural world (Cafaro 2001). In a world filled with beauty and complexity, I agree that the “aesthetic appreciation of plants, animals, and places” is important in developing moral behavior in the natural environment (Cafaro 2001). To cultivate this environmental virtue I plan on taking at least half an hour a day to observe and contemplate various natural environments I experience in my life. I will go to a location and journal about my experience as well as what I notice and reflect upon.
Works Cited
Cafaro, Philip (2001). Thoreau, Leopold, and Carson: Toward an environmental virtue ethics. Environmental Ethics 23 (1):3-17.
Marion, Hourdequin (2015). Environmental Ethics: from theory to practice
As I am pursuing a very similar lived ethics project, I am curious to know why it is that you decided to pursue Leopold's ethics specifically above the ethics of Carson and Thoreau?
ReplyDeleteColin,
ReplyDeleteThis is an incredibly interesting idea and it seems to be a small replication of Thoreau's idea of returning to nature. Aristotle's idea of "practical wisdom" also seems appropriate when applied to a natural setting. While it seems obvious that spending more time in nature would improve one's knowledge of how to act and treat the environment around them, not many people ever actually do this. What would you say to someone who believes that the only way to really ever KNOW nature is to immerse yourself completely in it? Was a half hour a day long enough that you felt you had gained some practical wisdom?