A Companion to the Philosophy of Technology

3. Normative Theories and Environmental Ethics

In order to have a fully developed environmental ethics, it is necessary to combine one’s preferred axiology with a normative theory that tells us how to act. For axiology is concerned with what kinds of thing are of value, and why, and not, at least directly, with how we ought to act. In other words, axiology points to kinds of things that we have a moral reason to be concerned about, but it has nothing to offer on the question how we ought to act all things considered. And, although it is not always obvious, people who engage in normative debate about the environment often base their reasoning on some kind of normative theory which, in more general terms, tells us how we ought to act. Normative theories are usually divided into three categories: consequentialism, deontology and virtue ethics. Consequentialism is the view that an agent is morally required to perform the act with the best consequences. Many consequentialists are utilitarians. They focus on welfare and insist that the best consequences are those containing maximum welfare. But consequentialism can be combined with any of the axiologies mentioned above.¹⁷ A biocentric consequentialist could, for example, claim that the best outcome of an action or policy is the one in which there is the most fully realized equality (of potential to flourish) between humans and other living creatures.¹⁸

Deontology, on the other hand, is the view that certain types of act (e.g. harming ...