Chapter 5, "Ethics and the Environment," presents a number of concerns raised by the effects that business has upon the natural environment, focusing specifically upon pollution and resource depletion. As modern industry has become increasingly successful at providing us with material goods, it has also become an unparalleled threat to the natural world upon which all life depends.
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
- Understand the extent of environmental damage produced by present—and projected—industrial technology.
- Evaluate how large a threat industry poses to human and nonhuman welfare.
- Identify what values, if any, must be changed to forestall industrial damage.
- Discuss how to decide who should pay for environmental damage, and how to evaluate its extent.
- Estimate how long our natural resources will last, and decide what obligations we have to future generations.
- Evaluate the ethical choices involved in continued economic growth.
