7. Theory and Practice of Biodiversity
115
The invention of tools, and much later the development of agriculture gave
humans an almost absolute advantage over all species, those that are potential resources, those that are potential competitors, and those that are neither and therefore mostly neutral. Such clear advantage of one species over all others means that
the effects of human interactions with other species are all in one direction, namely
in favor of people, and against all other species. The resilience of the system that
opposed an evolutionary reaction to every new adaptation that evolved is mostly
gone, and unless people start taking this new situation into account, ecosystems can
quickly become highly modified and degraded. This has occurred repeatedly in the
history of humanity in the last 10 000 years. Examples are the salinization of irrigated land in Babylon; the desertification of once productive land in Cartage (present
day Tunis); and soil erosion in Nepal following deforestation. The examples are
very numerous, and all have the same cause: overutilization of resources without
paying attention to the effects of that utilization.
If agricultural scientists have learned superbly how to manipulate plants and
animals so as to transform them into highly efficient and productive food producing machines, scientists should also be capable of applying themselves to the careful management of the entire ecosystem, be it a human made agricultural field or
pasture, or a natural ecosystem. And indeed many scientific advances have been
made in our knowledge and ability regarding the management of agro-ecosystems,
and forests. Yet never has there been a greater degradation of nature than what is
being experienced today. Why this contradiction?
6 Need for an Environmental Ethics
From an evolutionary point of view, we perceive ourselves as sharing this planet
with other species and being subjected to the same biological constraints. Our survival as living organisms depends on the same physical laws and ecological processes that govern every other. species, present and past. Consequently we try to
push ahead in the struggle for existence. But this understanding does not provide
us with any particular directives as to how we should conduct our lives and how we
should behave when confronted with the environmental changes with which we arc
faced today, because our role as moral agents is not deducible from our biological
nature. On the contrary, the history of civilization is the development of normative
behavioral rules that control human relations and that limit many of our innate
biological impulses. Although countries still engage in mass killings when they go
to war, individuals are no longer allowed to kill their rivals or seek private vengeance.
The characteristic of the human species that has given it an advantage in the
struggle for existence over other species has been the development of rational thinking
resulting from the large brain in relation to body weight. This and the acquisition
of speech has been at the basis of our evolutionary success. Consequently we like to
think that all our actions are the result of rational decisions. But this is true only in
115
The invention of tools, and much later the development of agriculture gave
humans an almost absolute advantage over all species, those that are potential resources, those that are potential competitors, and those that are neither and therefore mostly neutral. Such clear advantage of one species over all others means that
the effects of human interactions with other species are all in one direction, namely
in favor of people, and against all other species. The resilience of the system that
opposed an evolutionary reaction to every new adaptation that evolved is mostly
gone, and unless people start taking this new situation into account, ecosystems can
quickly become highly modified and degraded. This has occurred repeatedly in the
history of humanity in the last 10 000 years. Examples are the salinization of irrigated land in Babylon; the desertification of once productive land in Cartage (present
day Tunis); and soil erosion in Nepal following deforestation. The examples are
very numerous, and all have the same cause: overutilization of resources without
paying attention to the effects of that utilization.
If agricultural scientists have learned superbly how to manipulate plants and
animals so as to transform them into highly efficient and productive food producing machines, scientists should also be capable of applying themselves to the careful management of the entire ecosystem, be it a human made agricultural field or
pasture, or a natural ecosystem. And indeed many scientific advances have been
made in our knowledge and ability regarding the management of agro-ecosystems,
and forests. Yet never has there been a greater degradation of nature than what is
being experienced today. Why this contradiction?
6 Need for an Environmental Ethics
From an evolutionary point of view, we perceive ourselves as sharing this planet
with other species and being subjected to the same biological constraints. Our survival as living organisms depends on the same physical laws and ecological processes that govern every other. species, present and past. Consequently we try to
push ahead in the struggle for existence. But this understanding does not provide
us with any particular directives as to how we should conduct our lives and how we
should behave when confronted with the environmental changes with which we arc
faced today, because our role as moral agents is not deducible from our biological
nature. On the contrary, the history of civilization is the development of normative
behavioral rules that control human relations and that limit many of our innate
biological impulses. Although countries still engage in mass killings when they go
to war, individuals are no longer allowed to kill their rivals or seek private vengeance.
The characteristic of the human species that has given it an advantage in the
struggle for existence over other species has been the development of rational thinking
resulting from the large brain in relation to body weight. This and the acquisition
of speech has been at the basis of our evolutionary success. Consequently we like to
think that all our actions are the result of rational decisions. But this is true only in