Working Toward Sustainability Ethical Decision-Making in a Technological World
, by Kibert, Charles J.; Monroe, Martha C.; Peterson, Anna L.; Plate, Richard R.; Thiele, Leslie Paul
- ISBN: 9780470539729 | 0470539720
- Cover: Hardcover
- Copyright: 11/1/2011
Because sustainability ultimately rests on ethics, this groundbreaking book is a crucial link in extending sustainability from a mere intellectual exercise to a broader spectrum. Ethics of Sustainability develops a comprehensive ethical foundation for sustainability by bringing together nine ethical principles together in a cohesive manner to provide the badly needed ethical arguments that support this important concept. Each chapter is supported by case studies, exercises and other pedagogy, enabling technical professionals in various fields to understand the ethical foundations that apply to their needs.
Charles J. Kibert is Director of the Powell Center for Construction and Environment and a Professor in the M.E. Rinker, Sr., School of Building Construction at the University of Florida, where he teaches courses on sustainability and sustainable construction and conducts research on design, energy, water, and materials challenges in the built environment. He is a cofounder and CEO of the Cross Creek Initiative, Inc., a nonprofit industry-university joint venture seeking to implement sustainability principles into construction. he is the author of Sustainable Construction: Green Building Design and Delivery (Wiley).
Martha C. Monroe is Professor and extension specialist in the School of Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida. Her work in environmental education and communication uses effective programs and materials to engage people in working toward the resolution of environmental issues. She coauthored Conservation Education and Outreach Techniques and Evaluating Your Environmental Education Programs.
Anna L. Peterson is professor in the Department of Religion and affiliated professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment and the center of Latin American Studies at the University of Florida. She teaches and publishes widely on social and environmental ethics as well as religion in Latin America. Her books include Being Human: Ethics, Environment, and Our Place in the World and Everyday Ethics and Social Change: The Education of Desire.
Richard R. Plate is a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida. He has taught courses on environmental ethics and politics, critical thinking for environmental scientist, and socioeconomic on how individuals learn about make decisions regarding complex environmental systems.
Leslie Paul Thiele teaches political theory and serves as Director Sustainability Studies at the University of Florida. He employs a cross-disciplinary approach to explore the aptitudes, values, and skills demanded of democratic citizens and leaders in a world of rapid technological, social, and ecological change. His books include Environmentalism for a New Millennium: The Challenge of Coevolution and Indra's Net and the Midas Touch: Living Sustainably in Connected World.
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction xvii
MAKING CONNECTIONS xviii
SHIFTING TOWARD SUSTAINABILITY xix
THE STRUCTURE OF THIS BOOK xx
Chapter 1
A Context for Sustainability 1
THE RATIONALE FOR SUSTAINABILITY 1
Sustainability Interlude 1
A Response to a Crisis 2
CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES 5
Population and Consumption 6
Climate Change 6
Nonrenewable Resource Depletion 8
Loss of Biodiversity 9
Overfishing 10
Eutrophication 12
Desertification and Acidification 13
Poverty 14
Ecosystem Services and Quality of Life 14
THE ETHICAL CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABILITY 15
THE THREE-LEG MODEL OF SUSTAINABILITY 15
CONCLUSION 17
Chapter 2
The Technology Challenge 21
OVERVIEW OF TECHNOLOGY 21
Defining Technology 22
A Brief History of Technology 22
THE TECHNOLOGY PARADOX 25
Technological Optimism versus Technological Pessimism 25
Developing a More Nuanced View of the Impacts of Technology 27
CONSEQUENCES OF TECHNOLOGY 28
Predicting Consequences of Technology 29
Reducing the Uncertainty of Technology 31
Technology Risk Assessment, Acceptance, and Management 32
ALTERNATIVE, APPROPRIATE, AND SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY 34
THE ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY 36
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 37
Chapter 3
Introduction to Ethical Concepts 41
RELIGIOUS ETHICS 42
Common Ideals 42
Views of Human Nature 45
SECULAR AND PHILOSOPHICAL ETHICAL TRADITIONS 46
Justice 47
Deontological Ethics 47
Rights 48
Consequentialist Ethics 51
Objectivism and Ethical Relativism 52
Objectivism and Relativism in Sustainability 55
ETHICS AS A TOOL FOR MAKING DECISIONS 55
Framing Ethical Problems 56
Conflicting Values 56
THE THREE LEGS OF SUSTAINABILITY 58
Social Ethics 59
Environmental Ethics 60
Economic Ethics 61
Integrating the Three Legs 63
CONCLUSION 64
Chapter 4
Social Dimensions of Sustainability Ethics 67
JUSTICE, FAIRNESS, AND RECIPROCITY 67
The Golden Rule 68
Ethics of Care 71
DISTRIBUTIONAL PRINCIPLES 72
Distribution in a Just Society 73
Distributing Disadvantages 74
EXPLORING INTERDEPENDENCE 75
Thinking Globally, Acting Locally 76
Life on Spaceship Earth 78
Environmental Justice 80
OBLIGATIONS TO FUTURE GENERATIONS 81
Intergenerational Justice 82
A Look Back at Looking Forward 84
Future Quality of Life 85
Beyond Seven Generations 87
CONCLUSION 90
Chapter 5
Environmental Dimensions of Sustainability Ethics 95
THE EMERGENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS 95
The Birth of Modern Environmental Ethics 96
Environmentalism Becomes Mainstream 98
Undertones of the Sacred 99
RELIGION AND ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS 99
Religion and Nature 99
Greening Religion 101
ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES IN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS 103
Development of Ecology 103
CARICATURES OF NATURE 104
A Closer World 105
CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES IN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS 107
Getting the Scale of Ethics Right 108
Deep Ecology, Ecofeminism, and Social Ecology 109
Pluralistic Approaches 111
Bioregionalism 112
The New Agrarian Movement 113
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS AND NONHUMAN ANIMALS 114
Making a Case for the Individual 114
Mixed Communities 115
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS AND THE ETHICS OF SUSTAINABILITY 116
Identifying Values 117
Emphasizing Human Priorities 117
CONCLUSION 118
Chapter 6
Economic Dimensions of Sustainability Ethics 123
FROM CLASSICAL ECONOMICS TO ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS 124
The Advent of Modern Economics 124
Ecological Economics and the Classical Economists 125
Neoclassical Economics 128
Criticisms of Neoclassical Economics 130
Physical Limitations 131
Influences of Ecology 132
THE ECOLOGICAL ECONOMIC MODEL 134
Natural Capital and Ecological Services 135
Discounting the Future 136
The Economic Value of Natural Systems 137
Feedback between Ecological and Economic Systems 139
TOOLS OF ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS 144
The Polluter Pays Principle 144
Extended Producer Responsibility 145
Beneficiary Pays Principle 146
Full Cost Accounting, Full Cost Pricing, and Life-Cycle Costing 148
CONCLUSION 150
Chapter 7
Integrating the Three Legs of Sustainability 155
THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE 156
A Legal Context 157
Precaution in Practice 159
Precaution as Risk Management 160
Cost-Benefit Analysis 161
Including Stakeholders 162
Including Science 164
Compensation for Risks 165
The March of Progress 167
IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES 168
Lifeboat Ethics 168
Tragedy of the Commons 169
Hardin’s Challenge 170
POVERTY REDUCTION VERSUS ENVIRONMENTAL PRESERVATION 170
Linking Social and Environmental Goals 171
Finding Synergistic Solutions 172
The Role of Technology 174
MANAGING THE GLOBAL COMMONS 175
The Need for a Central Authority 176
Moving beyond the Tragedy of the Commons 177
International Multilateral Agreements 179
Non-Governmental Organizations 180
The Role of Government 181
TRANSCENDING THE THREE-LEGGED STOOL MODEL 182
Integrating the Three Legs 182
Complex Adaptive Systems 183
Integrating Behavior at Different Scales 184
Resilience in Social-Ecological Systems 187
Resilience and the Precautionary Principle 188
Resilience and Technology 189
Conflicting Values 191
THE DISTRIBUTION OF POWER IN DECISION MAKING 192
The Principle of Transparency 193
Transparency in Industry 194
Transparency and Technology 196
The Value of Autonomy 197
CONCLUSION 199
Chapter 8
Improving Our Thinking about Sustainability 209
OBSTACLES TO MAKING GOOD DECISIONS 210
Rational Decision Making 210
Limits of Rationality 212
Cognitive Heuristics 214
Discounting the Future 217
Complexity 219
How Barriers to Rationality Affect Decisions 220
STRATEGIES FOR ADDRESSING LIMITS TO RATIONALITY 224
Becoming Environmentally Informed 224
Becoming Socially and Economically Informed 226
Systems Thinking 227
CONCLUSION 235
Chapter 9
The Process of Changing Behavior 239
THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR 239
Attitudes 240
Subjective Norms 240
Perceived Control 241
Understanding Planned Behavior 242
OBSTACLES TO SUSTAINABLE BEHAVIOR 243
Political Obstacles to Sustainable Behavior 244
Lack of Social Capital 244
Accepting Unsustainable Outcomes 245
Individualization 246
Distancing 248
HOW CHANGE HAPPENS 251
The Five Phases of Individual Change 251
Diffusion of Innovation 253
Applying Diffusion of Innovation 254
STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTING CHANGE 257
Small Wins 257
Reasonable Person Model 258
Moving People toward Change 261
CONCLUSION 262
Chapter 10
Creating Change with Groups 267
ADVANTAGES OF GROUP DECISION MAKING 267
Additional Insights 268
New Discoveries 270
Increased Buy-In 271
TYPES OF COLLABORATIVE PROCESSES 272
MAKING THE MULTI-STAKEHOLDER PROCESS WORK 273
Social Learning 273
Building Shared Understanding 275
Trust 281
Iterative Approach 284
LEARNING ORGANIZATIONS 287
Developing the Ideal of a Learning Organization 288
Creating Change in a Learning Organization 289
CONCLUSION 290
Chapter 11
Applying an Ethic of Sustainability 295
MAKING ETHICAL DECISIONS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: AN OVERVIEW 295
Social Sustainability 296
Ecological Sustainability 296
Economic Sustainability 297
Integrating the Dimensions of Sustainability 298
CONTEMPORARY SUSTAINABILITY-BASED FRAMEWORKS 298
The Natural Step 299
The Hannover Principles 300
Corporate Social Responsibility 300
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 303
Sustainability Frameworks and Ethics 303
Picturing the Three-Legged Stool Model 304
A FINAL CRITIQUE 313
Index 319
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