Green Aristotle: Virtue, Contemplation and the Ethics of Sustainability

Theories of war provoke snarling debate because we are never at peace.  Similarly, calls for sustainability nettle us when accompanied by declarations of civilization’s imminent collapse.  Certainly there are several lines of investigation indicating that the collective needs of humanity cannot be met in perpetuity and that current demands are already imposing an undue burden on systems that support human life on Earth (my 3quarksdaily colleague, Kevin S Baldwin, writes about it here).  Sustainability initiatives, therefore, require us to consider a range of corrective actions.  Consistent with what sustainability advocates call the “triple bottom line” of people, planet and profit, changes are needed in the economic, social and ecological realm.  Beyond these immediately pragmatic considerations, calls for environmental sustainability also amount to calls for ethical change.  The 1987 Brundtland Commission defined sustainable development as development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.  The definition suggests an ethical dimension to sustainability.  That is, sustainability requires a reflection on balancing the obligations of the moment against our obligations to humans both unknown and unborn.  But why should we be concerned about these humans of the future, anymore than we are about those who went before us?  Certainly they are of curiosity value, but are they ethically of concern to us?  Sustainability may necessitate a vigorous upheaval in values. Read More...