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ABSTRACT
The paper emphasizes that the principal task for environmental pragmatism is also to reengage the meta-ethical and metaphysical debates of environmental ethics, but what is most important is to impress upon environmental philosophers the need to take up the question of what would motivate humans to change their attitudes, behaviors, and policy preferences toward those more supportive of long-term environmental sustainability. While there are other ways to achieve this same end in ethical practice, to abandon such a project would be irresponsible to the different communities we inhabit as environmental ethicists, as well as broadly inconsistent with the admirable reasons why this field got started in the first place.
Keywords: Environmental ethics; Environmental sustainability
JEL Codes: Q50
PART I. THE CALL OF CREATION: GOD'S INVITATION AND THE HUMAN RESPONSE
i.INTRODUCTION
It has become clear that care for the environment presents a major challenge for the whole of humanity in the 21st century. A way of life that disregards and damages God's creation, forces the poor into greater poverty, and threatens the right of future generations to a healthy environment and to their fair share of the earth's wealth and resources, is contrary to the vision of the Gospel.
The environmental crisis is especially complex since it involves not only many branches of scientific knowledge, but also politics and economics. The Church recognizes and respects the 'autonomy of earthly affairs' in all these disciplines (Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, 1965, Section 36). Its own task is to 'read the signs of the times' and uncover the spiritual and moral issues that lie at the root of the challenges of our time.
Care for the environment is fundamental to the universal good, since the health and well-being of all life depend on a healthy environment. The full human development of every person, both now and in future generations, cannot be separated from the fate of the earth.
In Catholic social teaching, the concept of the common good "implies that every individual, no matter how high or low, has a duty to share in promoting the welfare of the community as well as a right to benefit from that welfare" (Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, The Common...