Ethical Responsibility In Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic

Feigning Ignorance The ethical responsibilities a person should uphold to those they are in a direct relationship with, specifically the environment, is to act in consideration of its value as an ecological conscience and to not take the land for granted in terms of its value from a philosophical standpoint due to the principles of the land ethic. In accordance to this, Aldo Leopold's land ethic largely supports the land as an entity and suggests the proper and ethical way the land and its non-human elements such as animals should be treated with equal consideration to that of human beings. The land ethic is “... a community [that] is the basic concept of ecology, [and] that land is to be loved and respected [which] is an extension of ethics”(Leopold).
preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community" and that "It is wrong when it tends otherwise"(Leopold). Nowadays, the land we refer to is simply a commodity and is only seen for its economic value. Land use ethics are purely controlled by economic motives and self-interest. These intentions simply do not follow the ethical responsibilities a person has to the land and forms an unethical relationship between the people and the environment. In accordance with the land ethics, one must take in account how the land ethic "...reflects the existence of an ecological conscience, and this in turn reflects a conviction of individual responsibility for the health of land”(Leopold). The land ethic is viewed that humans should see the land with an ecological conscience and that they have the responsibility to preserve and protect the land. The land should not be regarded as a commodity, but rather as a community. Aldo Leopold's view on this was that ethics are to direct individuals and agree to cooperate with one another for the purpose of mutual benefit for all. In this general sense, the community is thought to include non-human elements such as plants, animals and the land as well. Human beings are simply a member of the community and Leopold's land ethics view of the relationship between humans and the
Generally, the form of utilitarianism that is discussed in land ethics is largely in support of industrial agriculture as to perform actions that will produce the most happiness and good for the greatest number of people. Now from a utilitarian based land ethic perspective, one might argue that a parcel of land should be used for industrial and residential uses or simply for farming which would potentially benefit a greater amount of people in the community. The benefits of using the land for industrial agriculture would then allow a community to have an increase in yield, and people would benefit by taking in the goods from farmed land. Utilitarians would favor this in supporting the use of land largely because of the wide benefits that people would receive such as in increased in crops and lower prices for food. However, there are also arguments that oppose this view of utilitarian land based ethics. Using land solely for industrial farming and agriculture does not take into account of the suffering of animals that live in the ecosystem. Attempting to use the land for economic reasons or simply using it for one's own purpose devalues the rights of animals and does not take into consideration that the land may be the habitat for many species of animals. Although, some philosophers may argue that the species living in the land do not