24
point of view good arguments should be provided instead of psychologically trying
to simply persuade people. And there are several arguments, in particular in the fi eld
of water:
• People usually understand that they are not alone in the world – solidarity is
often a concern.
• In particular, solidarity in the fi eld of water supply can be built on deep-ranging
intuitions and on cultural traditions (e.g. in Islam), which recommend or even
request not to endanger supplying water to other human beings.
• To be more specifi c, the very nature of water being a necessary precondition of
(human) life is a very strong argument that could hinder actors in egoistically
exploiting water resources at the expense of threatening other actors with too
little water for living.
• In some cases, there might also be a utilitarian argument for ethical discourses:
considering for example, upstream and downstream competition for using water
resources it might be a good idea to identify possible win-win situations.
Cooperation might open up added value for all the downstream and upstream
regions in comparison to a purely competitive situation.
Besides providing good arguments for trying to solve confl ict by means of ethical reasoning and discourse, it is essential to establish trust among the actors
involved (Habermas 2008 ). To this end, cultural and value resources (see above)
should be exploited to maximum extent. For example, it has been shown that Islamic
tradition provides a lot of chances to mobilise and motivate people to think about
the responsible use of water resources (Gilli 2004 ). Analogously, cultural resources
and traditions should also be considered as a means of constructing adequate preconditions for ethical discourses.
The basic precondition of an ethical discourse is to respect other human beings
as morally autonomous persons (Immanuel Kant). Thus, taking care about the preconditions of an ethical discourse on the usage of water is an issue to create insight
by argumentative reasoning rather than trying to persuade people. Obviously, the
expectability of creating insight by arguments depends on cultural issues and the
status of education. Thus, at the end, it is an issue of education and capacity building
that contribute in fulfi lling the preconditions of an ethical discourse – at least from
a mid and long-term perspective.
2.5 Water Confl icts
If all the principles identifi ed above would be met simultaneously by specifi c water
management strategies or other human interventions into water systems, there
wouldn’t be any problem in ethical respect. But usually there are counteracting
infl uences, trade-offs and inherent confl icts. Meeting one or two of the principles
frequently will endanger meeting the others. Normative uncertainties, in particular
confl icts on the required priority-setting between competing claims and their
A. Grunwald
point of view good arguments should be provided instead of psychologically trying
to simply persuade people. And there are several arguments, in particular in the fi eld
of water:
• People usually understand that they are not alone in the world – solidarity is
often a concern.
• In particular, solidarity in the fi eld of water supply can be built on deep-ranging
intuitions and on cultural traditions (e.g. in Islam), which recommend or even
request not to endanger supplying water to other human beings.
• To be more specifi c, the very nature of water being a necessary precondition of
(human) life is a very strong argument that could hinder actors in egoistically
exploiting water resources at the expense of threatening other actors with too
little water for living.
• In some cases, there might also be a utilitarian argument for ethical discourses:
considering for example, upstream and downstream competition for using water
resources it might be a good idea to identify possible win-win situations.
Cooperation might open up added value for all the downstream and upstream
regions in comparison to a purely competitive situation.
Besides providing good arguments for trying to solve confl ict by means of ethical reasoning and discourse, it is essential to establish trust among the actors
involved (Habermas 2008 ). To this end, cultural and value resources (see above)
should be exploited to maximum extent. For example, it has been shown that Islamic
tradition provides a lot of chances to mobilise and motivate people to think about
the responsible use of water resources (Gilli 2004 ). Analogously, cultural resources
and traditions should also be considered as a means of constructing adequate preconditions for ethical discourses.
The basic precondition of an ethical discourse is to respect other human beings
as morally autonomous persons (Immanuel Kant). Thus, taking care about the preconditions of an ethical discourse on the usage of water is an issue to create insight
by argumentative reasoning rather than trying to persuade people. Obviously, the
expectability of creating insight by arguments depends on cultural issues and the
status of education. Thus, at the end, it is an issue of education and capacity building
that contribute in fulfi lling the preconditions of an ethical discourse – at least from
a mid and long-term perspective.
2.5 Water Confl icts
If all the principles identifi ed above would be met simultaneously by specifi c water
management strategies or other human interventions into water systems, there
wouldn’t be any problem in ethical respect. But usually there are counteracting
infl uences, trade-offs and inherent confl icts. Meeting one or two of the principles
frequently will endanger meeting the others. Normative uncertainties, in particular
confl icts on the required priority-setting between competing claims and their
A. Grunwald