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Environmentalism, biophilia and environmental ethics.

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Provide thoughts on environmentalism and discuss the human effects on the environment, both positive and negative. Focus on the concepts of biophilia and the environmental ethic.

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Solution Summary

Here I outline a method to approach a broad philosophical question about environmental ethics: biophilia, environmentalism and human impacts on the environment

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This is a very broad question, and perhaps a little vague. I think the best way to approach it is, exactly as it says, to focus on the two concepts: biophilia and environmental ethics, then inform yourself on some environment-related topic and use these two concepts to write about that topic.

So let's begin by defining BIOPHILIA. Broken down into two root words, BIO and PHILIA we find that BIOS is greek for life and PHILIA means to love something. So put together it means a love of living things. Biophilia was a hypothesis put forward by Edward O. Wilson, but expanded upon by many authors and intellects over the decades. The basic hypothesis states that humans are innately intrigued by and capable of feeling deeply connected to living things. See the following website for a little more information:

http://wilderdom.com/evolution/BiophiliaHypothesis.html

ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS is a whole branch of philosophy that relates to the moral relationship of humans to the environment and it's non-human parts. Basically, this philosophy poses the question: what is the moral stance of humans on non-human living things? An example of a time when environmental ethics affects an individual and his/her choices: Does an animal have more right to live than a plant? Is it morally wrong to eat animals, but morally right to eat plants? The following link ...

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