Read more
Informationen zum Autor Charles J. Kibert is Director of the Powell Center for Construction and Environment and a Professor in the M.E. Rinker, Sr., School of Building Construction at the University of Florida, where he teaches courses on sustainability and sustainable construction and conducts research on design, energy, water, and materials challenges in the built environment. He is a cofounder and CEO of the Cross Creek Initiative, Inc., a nonprofit industry-university joint venture seeking to implement sustainability principles into construction. he is the author of Sustainable Construction: Green Building Design and Delivery (Wiley). Martha C. Monroe is Professor and extension specialist in the School of Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida. Her work in environmental education and communication uses effective programs and materials to engage people in working toward the resolution of environmental issues. She coauthored Conservation Education and Outreach Techniques and Evaluating Your Environmental Education Programs . Anna L. Peterson is professor in the Department of Religion and affiliated professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment and the center of Latin American Studies at the University of Florida. She teaches and publishes widely on social and environmental ethics as well as religion in Latin America. Her books include Being Human: Ethics, Environment, and Our Place in the World and Everyday Ethics and Social Change: The Education of Desire . Richard R. Plate is a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida. He has taught courses on environmental ethics and politics, critical thinking for environmental scientist, and socioeconomic on how individuals learn about make decisions regarding complex environmental systems. Leslie Paul Thiele teaches political theory and serves as Director Sustainability Studies at the University of Florida. He employs a cross-disciplinary approach to explore the aptitudes, values, and skills demanded of democratic citizens and leaders in a world of rapid technological, social, and ecological change. His books include Environmentalism for a New Millennium: The Challenge of Coevolution and Indra's Net and the Midas Touch: Living Sustainably in Connected World. Klappentext A comprehensive introduction to the ethics of sustainability for empowering professionals and practitioners in many different fieldsBy building the framework for balancing technological developments with their social and environmental effects, sustainable practices have grounded the vision of the green movement for the past few decades. Now deeply rooted in the public conscience, sustainability has put its stamp on various institutions and sectors, from national to local governments, from agriculture to tourism, and from manufacturing to resource management. But until now, the technological sector has operated without a cohesive set of sustainability principles to guide its actions. Working Toward Sustainability fills this gap by empowering professionals in various fields with an understanding of the ethical foundations they need to promoting and achieving sustainable development.In addition, Working Toward Sustainability:* Offers a comprehensive introduction to the ethics of sustainability for those in the technical fields whether construction, engineering, resource management, the sciences, architecture, or design* Supports nine central principles using case studies, exercises, and instructor material* Includes illustrations throughout to help bring the concepts to lifeBy demonstrating that sustainable solutions tart with ethical choices, this groundbreaking book helps professionals in virtually every sector and field of endeavor work toward sustainability. Zusammenfassung Ethics of Sustaina...
List of contents
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction xvii
MAKING CONNECTIONS xviii
SHIFTING TOWARD SUSTAINABILITY xix
THE STRUCTURE OF THIS BOOK xx
Chapter 1
A Context for Sustainability 1
THE RATIONALE FOR SUSTAINABILITY 1
Sustainability Interlude 1
A Response to a Crisis 2
CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES 5
Population and Consumption 6
Climate Change 6
Nonrenewable Resource Depletion 8
Loss of Biodiversity 9
Overfishing 10
Eutrophication 12
Desertification and Acidification 13
Poverty 14
Ecosystem Services and Quality of Life 14
THE ETHICAL CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABILITY 15
THE THREE-LEG MODEL OF SUSTAINABILITY 15
CONCLUSION 17
Chapter 2
The Technology Challenge 21
OVERVIEW OF TECHNOLOGY 21
Defining Technology 22
A Brief History of Technology 22
THE TECHNOLOGY PARADOX 25
Technological Optimism versus Technological Pessimism 25
Developing a More Nuanced View of the Impacts of Technology 27
CONSEQUENCES OF TECHNOLOGY 28
Predicting Consequences of Technology 29
Reducing the Uncertainty of Technology 31
Technology Risk Assessment, Acceptance, and Management 32
ALTERNATIVE, APPROPRIATE, AND SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY 34
THE ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY 36
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 37
Chapter 3
Introduction to Ethical Concepts 41
RELIGIOUS ETHICS 42
Common Ideals 42
Views of Human Nature 45
SECULAR AND PHILOSOPHICAL ETHICAL TRADITIONS 46
Justice 47
Deontological Ethics 47
Rights 48
Consequentialist Ethics 51
Objectivism and Ethical Relativism 52
Objectivism and Relativism in Sustainability 55
ETHICS AS A TOOL FOR MAKING DECISIONS 55
Framing Ethical Problems 56
Conflicting Values 56
THE THREE LEGS OF SUSTAINABILITY 58
Social Ethics 59
Environmental Ethics 60
Economic Ethics 61
Integrating the Three Legs 63
CONCLUSION 64
Chapter 4
Social Dimensions of Sustainability Ethics 67
JUSTICE, FAIRNESS, AND RECIPROCITY 67
The Golden Rule 68
Ethics of Care 71
DISTRIBUTIONAL PRINCIPLES 72
Distribution in a Just Society 73
Distributing Disadvantages 74
EXPLORING INTERDEPENDENCE 75
Thinking Globally, Acting Locally 76
Life on Spaceship Earth 78
Environmental Justice 80
OBLIGATIONS TO FUTURE GENERATIONS 81
Intergenerational Justice 82
A Look Back at Looking Forward 84
Future Quality of Life 85
Beyond Seven Generations 87
CONCLUSION 90
Chapter 5
Environmental Dimensions of Sustainability Ethics 95
THE EMERGENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS 95
The Birth of Modern Environmental Ethics 96
Environmentalism Becomes Mainstream 98
Undertones of the Sacred 99
RELIGION AND ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS 99
Religion and Nature 99
Greening Religion 101
ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES IN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS 103
Development of Ecology 103
CARICATURES OF NATURE 104
A Closer World 105
CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES IN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS 107
Getting the Scale of Ethics Right 108
Deep Ecology, Ecofeminism, and Social Ecology 109
