sum up: ESS is not a comprehensive theory of nature conservation. It is rather a
schematic tool than a theory. With some caveats (“flow”, “service”, “monetization”)
it fulfils the requirement to allow for attribution and grounding. Used in proper ways,
ESS may be catalytic for environmental axiological discourse.
5 Value Systems in Environmental Ethics
Environmental ethics established classifying maps of values and ethical frameworks.
After decades of discourse in environmental ethics, some essential (constitutive)
ethical frameworks and value types can be identified and differentiated. These
generic frameworks and value types have been mapped several times (Rolston
1988; Krebs 1999; Ott 2010; Muraca 2011; Ott et al. 2016). This section is based
on these studies and pursues two concerns: It aims to distinguish five major value
types and frameworks and to highlight the parallels between these patterns and
categories of TEV and ESS. This opens many doors for further reflection on these
categories.
5.1 Metabolic and Reliance Values
Human systems depend on and are embedded in natural systems that provide many
different resources, goods and services. The direct use of nature for food and shelter
is “metabolic” because, as Marx notes, all human societies depend on a continuous
metabolism with nature. This general truth about man’s dependence on nature is
independent of technology and property rights. The categories “metabolic values” or
“reliant values” are intended to cover this fundamental dependence. Dependence on
nature differs depending on the spatial scale and degree of substitutability. Metabolism should be understood broadly. The metabolic values of nature have been
mediated by human work, in particular by agriculture, animal husbandry, mining,
forestry and fishing, including aquaculture. The extraction of oil, natural gas and coal
provides fuels that are of instrumental value for many purposes. Breeding is a
strategy to increase the instrumental values of cows, sheep, rice, and apple trees.
The regular supply of fresh water, heating and cooking facilities to almost all
members of society has taken many decades even in technologically advanced
countries. In (post-)industrial and urbanized societies such dependence is often
overlooked. Full supermarkets are simply a matter of course. Environmental ethics
is critical against such forgetfulness and ignorance. This argumentation (“reliance
values”) has been linked to the environmentalism of the poor through concepts of
decent livelihoods, especially in the Global South (Martinez-Alier 2002).
Humans have no alternative but to organise metabolism with nature. Social
metabolism was intensified from the Neolithic to the great acceleration of the present
age. Fundamental Neolithic achievements have paved a long way to the full-grown
Environmental Evaluation between Economics and Ethics: An Argument for. . .
143
schematic tool than a theory. With some caveats (“flow”, “service”, “monetization”)
it fulfils the requirement to allow for attribution and grounding. Used in proper ways,
ESS may be catalytic for environmental axiological discourse.
5 Value Systems in Environmental Ethics
Environmental ethics established classifying maps of values and ethical frameworks.
After decades of discourse in environmental ethics, some essential (constitutive)
ethical frameworks and value types can be identified and differentiated. These
generic frameworks and value types have been mapped several times (Rolston
1988; Krebs 1999; Ott 2010; Muraca 2011; Ott et al. 2016). This section is based
on these studies and pursues two concerns: It aims to distinguish five major value
types and frameworks and to highlight the parallels between these patterns and
categories of TEV and ESS. This opens many doors for further reflection on these
categories.
5.1 Metabolic and Reliance Values
Human systems depend on and are embedded in natural systems that provide many
different resources, goods and services. The direct use of nature for food and shelter
is “metabolic” because, as Marx notes, all human societies depend on a continuous
metabolism with nature. This general truth about man’s dependence on nature is
independent of technology and property rights. The categories “metabolic values” or
“reliant values” are intended to cover this fundamental dependence. Dependence on
nature differs depending on the spatial scale and degree of substitutability. Metabolism should be understood broadly. The metabolic values of nature have been
mediated by human work, in particular by agriculture, animal husbandry, mining,
forestry and fishing, including aquaculture. The extraction of oil, natural gas and coal
provides fuels that are of instrumental value for many purposes. Breeding is a
strategy to increase the instrumental values of cows, sheep, rice, and apple trees.
The regular supply of fresh water, heating and cooking facilities to almost all
members of society has taken many decades even in technologically advanced
countries. In (post-)industrial and urbanized societies such dependence is often
overlooked. Full supermarkets are simply a matter of course. Environmental ethics
is critical against such forgetfulness and ignorance. This argumentation (“reliance
values”) has been linked to the environmentalism of the poor through concepts of
decent livelihoods, especially in the Global South (Martinez-Alier 2002).
Humans have no alternative but to organise metabolism with nature. Social
metabolism was intensified from the Neolithic to the great acceleration of the present
age. Fundamental Neolithic achievements have paved a long way to the full-grown
Environmental Evaluation between Economics and Ethics: An Argument for. . .
143