Man and the Environment

Paper Summary:

This paper explains the philosophies of Determinism and Possibilisim and looks at how each of these philosophies view our world today with all its environmental problems. The paper explains that, while Determinism may have offered an appropriate view of the world in pre-industrial times, today its worldview is too simplistic. The paper further explains that Possibilism's view of the world, one that see opportunities for environmental control as unlimited, has also been rejected because of the obvious limitations to controlling the environment. Finally, the paper attempts to answer two major questions that are at the heart of today's environmental problems: How can environmental safety and a proper balance be achieved without destruction of natural objects, animate as well as inanimate? And, how can the problem of environmental protection be solved without causing economic damage to those who need land and its resources to earn a living and a fair profit?

From the Paper:

"From the time Rachel Carson first unraveled the dangers of DDT to the present, when international laws are being enacted to deal with the ozone layer and acid rain, the deforestation and acidification of once-pristine lakes, man and his sometime struggle to save, even enhance his environment, has awakened much of the caring public. Unfortunately, news items like the death of Princess Diana, El Nino and La Nina, The Unibomber and Ted Bundy get more attention than the true predicament of our civilization. For every species we bring back to life, two more are endangered. Loggers hate the right of the spotted owl to exist. Ranchers distrust letting wild wolves back into Yosemite. Amateur hunters still hope to bring down golden eagles or California condors, and the freeways and highways continue to pollute the air we breathe and the atmosphere plant and animal life require to breed and survive."

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