"The Land Ethic" by Aldo Leopold Journal Entry
The Land Ethic by Aldo Leopold
Aldo Leopold’s article “The Land Ethics” deals with the definition of ethics and its influence on the way land and soil is used. Leopold goes beyond the limits of the usual definition of ethic, approaching it from the stipulative approach.Leopold providing a retrospective view on the matter of ethics development, defines ethical structure as the components ethics covers, whereas ethical criteria are considered the type of behavior and thinking that are defined by ethical considerations and can be applied to the different fields of human activity. The opening appears to be unconventional and interesting, it introduces the reader to the topic and using examples from history the area of research not only highlights the development of the land ethic definition, but also helps Leopold to incorporate land ethics as an ethical criterion into the general ethics.
Providing a comparison with the ethics of human interactions, the introduction serves the purpose of introducing the problem of land ethics not being a part of the ethical structure. Leopold assumes that the extension of the ethic structure and ethical criteria refers to the problems investigated in terms of ecological evolution, where ecological in considered to be inalienable part of human-environment interaction in the process of survival. Basically, an ethic ecologically is the restrictions imposed on the human freedom to treat community sources so that the minimal conditions for the survival of each member of the community are provided. An ethic philosophically is defined as a key point in the functioning of the society through the development of behavioral norms and moral guidance that differ it from anti-social forms of life. Leopold, viewing ethics in the context of symbioses, mentions two definition of the thing.
Although the correct connotation is not clearly defined, ethics as symbioses obtains material dimension, becoming sufficient and tangible factor in land ethics. The usage of the word “thing” in this case hints on a lack of cooperation and integration between philosophical and ecological approach (Leopold 20).Symbioses in the article is perceived as mutually beneficial cooperation between individuals and environment that is managed with the help of ethic. Leopold states that the ethical sequence should be seen as a combination of the three factors: relationships between individuals, between individual and society, and between individual land relations. Ethical sequence adds the new element to the usual vision of ethics as the moral norms and rules common in the society, investigating ethics not only as the regulative factor of human communication, but also as an important part of human’s use of land.
The ecological interpretation of history is the interpretation that investigates human’s impact on the land basing on the level of ecological conscience aiming at the harmony between people and land. It also depicts the impact of land conditions on the establishment of human’s settlements and people’s activity. Expanding on an ecological interpretation of history, Aldo Leopold provides an example of …
