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Business ethics should also employ an action method of utilitarianism. The law of utilitarianism
deals the duty of companies to others. Therefore, the companies should be sensitive of their
actions and how they affect other human beings in the ecology they operate in (Crane & Mattern
2007). Additionally, they should consider how business operations affect the environment
occupied by humans.
The companies must also consider how business operations affect natural resources that humans
rely on for survival and health. Many of the existing global corporations own large
manufacturing and production plants. During the manufacturing and production processes, a lot
of waste is released from the plants. Most of the waste finds way to the environment and end up
destroying natural resources that are designed for consumption by humans.
Some countries for example western territories have also signed a number of agreements
allowing for private ownership of seas and oceans. According to Howell (2009), private
ownership of such water masses limits the access of humans to natural resources that can be
achieved from the habitats. Restricting access to the resources in such environments also means a
reduction in their sustainability on daily basis for health and food. This also means that humans
will suffer greatly and may end up dying because of starvation.
Such agreements ignore common laws of existence and they violate the theory of justice that
aims at treating every person fairly. The theory of justice also aims at ensuring every person
receives equal treatment and can access resources equally. It also recommends reduction of
fairness between losers and winners.
Environmental laws and ethics also expect humans to take care of the environment. The ethics
recommend that man should be responsible for prevention of environmental degradation (Bunin
& Tsui- James 2003). It is additionally believed that man can realize sustainable environmental
usage easily and ensure it is well attended to at the same time.
Man and the ecosystem as such can coexist easily. However, there are people who believe that
man and the environment cannot coexist. Their theories claim that the environment only survives
at the expense of human beings (De Steguire 1995). They also expect man to survive sustainably
and be in a position to meet their needs without necessarily fully utilizing natural resources.
Environmental ethics are regulates that must be used for peaceful co-existence between man and
the environment. Every person aiming at conserving the environment at the expense of human
should understand that if man is given an opportunity to live without restrictions on the
ecosystem, man is still in a position to protect the environment because it is a place that offers
his daily existence.
Every ecosystem has food web and this is narrowed to a food chain. Taking a close look at the
food web, it is clear that everything in the ecosystem has a symbiotic relationship. This means,
one source relies on the other for survival (Lobina & Hall 2004). Elimination of one item from
the food web can easily lead extinction of the other because of lack of food.
Human beings may also starve to death if they design laws that limit their right to use
environmental resources. These theories based on the argument above have to uphold the virtue
of ethics. Virtue ethics focuses on ensuring individuals maintain moral character when dealing
with others. Therefore, they have to examine their actions carefully and decide whether they are
acting with honor.
In anything that people do, they have to be descent and honest about their actions towards fellow
humans. Actions with integrity helps to ensure humans utilize what is rightfully theirs in the
ecosystem. Honesty is additionally expected in the event of making such decisions as they
prevent man from utilizing natural resources (UNEP 2006).
All existing regulations should also allow humans to utilize natural resources fully for their
health and sustenance. Man on the other hand must ensure they constantly renew renewable
resources and economically utilize non-renewable assets.
Conclusion
Many regulations, rules and philosophies as earlier discussed have been put in place to control
the relationship between the environment and man. This means that there are regulations, rules
and philosophies that also define how humans use natural resources to satisfy their needs. Such
theories and proposals need to understand that the ecosystem and man have symbiotic
relationship. This means man depends on the environment for health and survival and the
environment needs man for continuity and maintenance.
No law can therefore challenge the fact that human needs are more significant than
environmental needs. It is also imperative for the proposers to understand that man is not in a
position to meet his needs without exploring natural resources. Additionally, it is worth noting
that man is indeed a reasonable being and can maintain the environment from massive
destruction to ensure his constant supply.
References
Brenan, A & Lo, Y S 2008, Environmental ethics, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, viewed
17 October 2013 < http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-environmental/>.
Bunin, S & Tsui James, E 2003, Environmental ethics, The Blackwell Companion for
Philosophy, 2nd edn, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, viewed 17 October 2013
<http://lamar.colostate.edu/~rolston/ee-blackwell-comp.pdf>.
Crane, A & Matten, D 2007, Understanding business ethics: Managing Corporate Citizenship
and Sustainability in the Age of Globalization, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
DesJardin, J 2012, Environmental Ethics, 5th ed, An Introduction to Environmental Philosophy,
Cengage Learning, California.
De Steiguer, J 1995, Three theories from economics about the environment. Journal of
bioscience, Vol 45. No. 8.
Howell, R 2009, Ecological ethics for sustainable world and some implications for investment,
International journal of transdisciplinary research, 4,1, 1- 15.
Howell, R 2010, Choosing ethical theories and principles and applying them to the question:
should the sea be owned? international journal of transdisciplinary research 4,1, 1- 15.
Lobina, E & Hall, D 2004, Private and public interests in water and energy, Natural Resources
Forum, vol. 28, 268-277.
United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) 2006, Environmental education, ethics and
action, viewed 17 October 2013 <http://www.unep.org/training/downloads/PDFs/ethics_en.pdf>.
Williams, B 1992, Must a concern for the environment be centered on human beings? Reprinted
in his Making Sense of Humanity and Other Philosophical Papers, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
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