Upstream/Downstream: Issues in Environmental Ethics, Donald Scherer, (ed), (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1990), 234 pp.
Justifying aspirations; of general applicability to environmental problems; written for the first party participant.
Upstream/Downstream: Issues in Environmental Ethics is a collection of essays which address environmental problems from a philosophical perspective and divides environmental values into two, distinct "... constellation of values"; upstream and downstream values.
Upstream/Downstream: Issues in Environmental Ethics will be of interest to those who seek a philosophical foundation for human treatment of the environment. The work is a collection of eight essays, each addressing a particular issue for environmental ethics. The editor presents a comprehensive introduction to the book, with a brief outline of each essay. He is also author of the first essay which addresses the molding of environments by complex and social humans, and the norms that emerge "... to respond to the problems endemic to upstream/downstream environments".
The second essay considers the rights of future generations. Specifically, the author examines the admittedly non-reciprocal relationship the present generation has with future generations by reference to a metaphorical "river of time". The third essay, by Dale Jamieson, focuses upon human understanding of the Greenhouse Effect. Jamieson asserts that "... by operating on inadequate philosophies, society is abrogating its obligations to future generations. Positivist models of science and society, on which much of America society has been built, make several important assumptions, among them that there is a radical separation between facts and values and that scientists, applying appropriate methods, can ascertain the facts".
The fourth essay considers the relationship between models, scientific method and environmental ethics. Herein, the author questions the use of hydorgeological models in the siting of hazardous waste facilities. The next essay is co-authored by Daniel Barstow Magraw and James W. Nickel and questions whether today's international system can handle transboundary environmental problems. This is followed by an examination by Mark Sagoff of the legal considerations of takings and what constitutes just compensation, and the relationship of both to the environment.
The penultimate essay addresses the assessment of the acts of pollution. "Bart Gruzalski wrestles with finding an adequate basis for attributing responsibility for pollution when each polluter adds so little pollution as to do no damage alone. ... What, he asks, is an appropriate standard of responsibility in the face of individual insignificance?". The final essay compares two types of cost-benefit analyses. Alan Gerwith asserts that traditional cost-benefit analysis is not suited to assess the multilateral costs involved in environmental degradation. He thus proposes a modification of the traditional analysis to accommodate the complexities involved. The editor concludes: "The characteristics of upstream/downstream relations, as the authors in this volume argue, drive us toward revised standards of responsibility. ... this volume attempts a few initial steps toward new understandings of human responsibility in an upstream/downstream world".
Upstream/Downstream: Issues in Environmental Ethics is a careful consideration of the distinct value packages associated with one's position to the environment, which one has helped to mold, and the humans with whom one has striven in this endeavour. This work will provide a firm basis for further pursuit by the critical thinker.
T. A. O'Lonergan
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