2011 Sayı 17

Browse

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1

On the possibility and necessity of the land ethic
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2011) Özer, Mahmut
Environmental scientists warn us that we, together with nature, might be doomed unless necessary measures are taken. Aldo Leopold asserts that an ethic which makes us responsible for the preservation of whole nature, with all its constituents, is evolutionarily possible and ecologically necessary. Land ethic has been especially criticized for its holistic perspective. For this may lead to violation of individual rights, and to a sort of fascism, called ecofascism. J. Baird Callicott’s attempts to save land ethic from ecofascism make land ethic impotent to save nature, and contrary to his intentions, also anthropocentric. In this paper, it is argued that this dilemma that land ethic faces can be resolved by endorsing a weak anthropocentric position, which is fairly compatible with Leopold's own views.