250-word Message Posts

Response: What makes it worthwhile?

A student posed the question/response of:

What makes it worthwhile?

While argueing against a policy of complete interference, Richard Sylvan stated that, "...on an environmental ethic some worthwhile parts of the earth's surface should be preserved from substantial human interference" (Sylvan, 2001: 19).

But what is "worthwhile?" Different species and populations live in different areas, and who is to determine which parts of the earth are worthwhile? And if you say that parts of the earth are worthwhile, are there parts that aren't worthwhile. (There probably are, and it's probably because of human "intervention" and polution).

I do agree with Sylvan's statement on page 24,which uses the vanishing blue whale as an example, "Whether the blue whale survives should not have to depend on what humans know, or what they see on television" (Sylvan, 2001: 24). Humans are basically the determining factor in what's "worthwhile" and what can survive. This is because humans are the ones taking over habitats and poluting, exploiting other species, lands, and recourses.

Sylvan, Richard. "Is There A Need For A New, An Environmental Ethic?" ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY. Ed. Michael Zimmerman. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001.


My response:

If something is “worthwhile”, that means that it’s worthy of the time or energy that’s spent on it. But why does it matter if it is valuable to humans? Why have we as a species decided that everything in this world revolves around us and needs to provide value for us in order for it to survive on this planet?

If you compare our relationship with nature to different cultural relationships within our own species, the similarities are so blatant that it’s almost laughable that we continue to act the way we do. We know that killing another human being because of his or her religion is wrong. If someone chooses to be different from us, we know that that is his or her right to be that way.

After years of fighting to break away from the barbaric treatment of each other due to culture and ethnicity, we must now continue to push for equality in all areas of life, not just our own species.

Everything in this world is relative to the being that’s encountering it. For example, humans use the fact that we can reason and make decisions as an excuse for our “superiority” over everything else. Dogs, on the other hand, can hear much better than us. Trees can produce oxygen. Cats can see during the darkest of nights. Each thing on earth is unique in its own way.

Meaning, it is not our place to decide whether something is worthwhile. We need to realize that if it is here, it has a purpose. If it has a purpose, it doesn’t need to be for us.