Aldo Leopold’S Essay “The Land Ethic” Was Published In

Aldo Leopold’s essay â€Å"The Land Ethic† was published in A Sand County Almanac. The short paper confronts the imperfections in the most common approaches in preserving the environment. Leopold’s answer is to develop a new branch of environmental ethics to model humanity’s ever-changing relationship with the environment. Leopold observantly describes the history of ethics, the meaning of community with the land and why it’s appropriate to do so. Toward the end of the essay – as the reader is ready for Leopold to thoroughly explain his moral code – he ambiguously finishes, â€Å"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise† (Leopold, 224–225). The reader†¦show more content†¦Again, the reader turns to Leopold to provide a concrete ethical viewpoint. But this is nearly impossible because Leopold doesn’t have the answers to fix the biotic clock. Any viewpoint he relays might result in complete failure. Leopold is calling for a philosophical shift rather than a change in our actions. In the beginning of the essay, Leopold references The Ten Commandments and The Golden Rule. The pair of ethical viewpoints guides our everyday relationships in society. The Ten Commandments is a documentation of ten moral rules that are set in stone (pun intended.) The Golden Rule is a single principle of mutuality: treat others how you want to be treated. While one approach is only to be obeyed, the other depends on deep self-reflection. To truly know how to treat someone, we must think about consequences and respect one another. The land ethic is not a list of rules, which should be taken for what it is, but an attitude that can change on a daily basis. Leopold seeks to reconstruct humanity’s ethical knowledge to its core. He observes the way humans interact compassionately, and is determined to explain why it is important to extend this compassion to the environment. â€Å"It is inconceivabl e to me that an ethical relation to the land can exist without love, respect, and admiration for land and a high regard for its value† (LeopoldShow MoreRelatedYeah717 Words   |  3 Pagesto live longer and produce more children. During the mid-1700s, the industrial revolution greatly increased population. It was a shift from an agricultural society to an urban society powered by fossil fuels. What is the tragedy o the commons? Explain how the concept might apply to an unregulated industry that is a source of water pollution? The tragedy of the commons was written by Garret Hardin. Hardin argued that unregulated exploitation would cause environmental depletion. What is environmentalRead MoreThe Greatest Epa Cleanup Program889 Words   |  4 PagesI read a few of the essays published by Aldo Leopold from 1998 to 2001 in a book of collective essays called For the Health of the Land. The collection is a plea from Leopold for the development of land ethic. He believes that humans have the responsibility to interact with the land in ways that promote its good being. Even though the essays were published over 50 years ago, progress in Leopold’s concept of land health has just begun. The EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) are helping by conductingRead More History of the Origins of Environmental Ethics Essay1045 Words   |  5 PagesHistory of the Origins of Environmental Ethics The inspiration for environmental ethics was the first Earth Day in 1970 when environmentalists started urging philosophers who were involved with environmental groups to do something about environmental ethics. An intellectual climate had developed in the last few years of the 1960s in large part because of the publication of two papers in Science: Lynn Whites The Historical Roots of our Ecologic Crisis (March 1967) and Garett Hardins The Tragedy