FLOOD PLAIN ETHICS THE CONFLICTS BETWEEN UTILITARIANISM AND ALDO LEOPOLD8217S LAND ETHICS
This paper will discuss the conflicts between the utilitarian ethical theory and the ethical theory put forth by Aldo Leopold known as The Land Ethic. The question chosen to express the philosophical differences central in the two theories is, what should we do with flood plain land use? The land use issue in general requires careful consideration. The flood plain land use issue illustrates the utilitarian and Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic philosophical conflicts. Utilitarianism derives from: 1) Actions which result in the greatest good for the greatest number of people. 2) Promote efficiency by comparing actions. 3) of Our judgments are universalizations (Van DeVeer, 1998). An example is the laws passed that “try to please everyone…” which result in confusion. The first doctrine evaluates options based on whether their consequences produce happiness or unhappiness. That is, we judge what actions give us the most happiness with the least pain -- the utilitarian calculus. We sum the goods, positives and then the bads, negatives. Then subtract the negatives from the positives. This result must have a net good for the action to be considered right, however, this is not without weaknesses. A princ
However, as a consequentialist ethical principle, it can be counter intuitive since it will not give rise to morality’s conventional rules, such as prohibitions against stealing or killing of individuals in pursuit of bettering the whole. It fails to be persuasive as a consequentialist principle since some traditional moral rules may be understandably incompatible with the critical environmental goal well being (Internet, 1996). , Utilitarianism, 1998, BUS 100 - Contemporary Business, Bradley University, 1501 W. The utilitarian theory along with the economic theory does not consider the well-being of the other community members except in so far ash they may maximize human satisfaction or utility (Van DeVeer, 1998). The flood plains, as a community, are a microcosm of interacting individual species with man as an integral part (Van DeVeer, 1998). As activities destroy or change it this natural filter system and buffer zone depletes. The problem with settling in a flood plain is the value and strength of the biotic community and the destruction and changing of the environmental elements that keep the flood plain’s ecosystem in tack are not considered. Floods cause a greater loss of life and property loss and disrupt more families and communities than all other natural hazards combined. The utilitarian/economic theory sees the value only as portion of the Total Net Utility formula not considering the whole or that the individual is a part of the whole. In addition, the defining of happiness may be impossible. This results in difficulty in agreeing on an evaluation for the overall good or to minimize the overall bad (Smart, 1997). Bradley Avenue, Peoria, Illinois 61625 http://cyberprof.
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