The Land Ethic for A More-Than-Human-World”
Keywords:
Aldo Leopold, Land Ethic, Environmental Ethics, Anthropocentrism, Ecological Perspective, Intrinsic ValueAbstract
This article analyzes Aldo Leopold's seminal work 'The Land Ethic' from A Sand County Almanac (1949), which critiques the anthropocentric bias in Western ethical systems and advocates for an expanded community that includes non-human nature. The paper explores Leopold's argument that traditional ethics have evolved to cover relations between individuals and society but have not yet extended to man’s relation to land and its biota. This study examines how Leopold proposes a land ethic that changes the role of humans from conquerors to members of an interdependent community that includes soils, waters, plants, and animals. The article demonstrates the significance of Leopold's ecological perspective in addressing contemporary environmental crises, highlighting his critique of instrumental value conferred on nature and his advocacy for intrinsic value. The author contends that despite growing interest in environmental conservation, the anthropocentric bias persists, inhibiting the development of a robust environmental ethic.
(The abstract and keywords were prepared retrospectively for indexing purposes using AI-assisted tools and editorial review, based on the original article. They did not appear in the original publication.)"
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