Environmental Ethics

Environmental Ethics

The environmental crisis — climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, pollution, resource depletion — is arguably the defining moral challenge of the twenty-first century. Environmental ethics examines the moral relationship between human beings and the natural world. Do we have moral obligations to nature? Is the natural world valuable only insofar as it serves human interests, or does it have intrinsic value? This lesson explores the key concepts, religious perspectives, and philosophical frameworks for thinking about our responsibilities to the environment.

Stewardship

The concept of stewardship is the most widely held religious approach to the environment. It holds that human beings are not the owners of the earth but its stewards or caretakers, entrusted by God with the responsibility to care for creation on God\'s behalf.