Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Scope Of Justice, Delegitimisation, Sentience And Ecosystemic Integrity As Predictors Of Protection, Rob Gulley

Theses : Honours

It is argued that the continuing environmental destruction results from an instrumental valuation of the non-human world. Fox's (1995) alternative intrinsic value approach to environmental protection is introduced. Two aspects of Fox's descriptive model may represent fundamental motives, or ethical bases, for behaviour. They are sentience -the quality of being capable of experiencing pain, and ecosystemic-integrity -the quality of contributing to the self-regenerating capacity of an ecosystem. The inconsistency between the presumed ethical bases for behaviour, and actual behaviour is noted. It is suggested that delegitimisation- the discounting of some desirable quality in a competitor during conflict, and the scope …