Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Callicott's land-ethical holism implies that human indivi... — Carmelics
    Home/Environmental Ethics
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    Callicott's land-ethical holism implies that human individuals may be sacrificed for the holistic biotic good

    Environmental Ethics
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Any individual member of the biotic community ought to be sacrificed when needed for the holistic good of the community
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Human individuals are members of the biotic community
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.The inference commits the fallacy of composition: valuing the whole above parts does not entail that any particular part may be sacrificed for aggregate benefit.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Holism in Leopold's tradition targets anthropocentrism, not individual rights per se—the biotic good constrains human excess rather than licensing sacrifice of persons.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Tom Regan's 'environmental fascism' charge misreads holism as aggregative consequentialism, when Callicott treats biotic integrity as a side-constraint, not a maximization target.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Callicott explicitly revised his position in 'Thinking Like a Planet' (2013) to incorporate a nested hierarchy of obligations, prioritizing human communities over biotic ones.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Callicott's layered deontology holds that stronger moral obligations to fellow humans override, rather than dissolve into, broader land-ethical duties.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Sign in or register to share your perspective on this statement.

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.

    Topics

    Environmental Ethics

    Related

    Any individual member of the biotic community ought to be sacrificed when needed...Callicott explicitly revised his position in 'Thinking Like a Planet' (2013) to ...Callicott's layered deontology holds that stronger moral obligations to fellow h...Holism in Leopold's tradition targets anthropocentrism, not individual rights pe...
    +3 moreShow less
    Human individuals are members of the biotic communityThe inference commits the fallacy of composition: valuing the whole above parts ...Tom Regan's 'environmental fascism' charge misreads holism as aggregative conseq...

    Similar

    Any individual member of the biotic community ought to be sacrificed w...78%Individual members of the biotic community ought to be sacrificed when...78%An individual member of the biotic community ought to be sacrificed wh...78%Virtue ethics need not be unavoidably anthropocentric and can support ...75%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: ethics-environmental
    View source passageHide passage
    Criticizing the individualistic approach in general for failing to accommodate conservation concerns for ecological wholes, J. Baird Callicott (1980) once advocated a version of land-ethical holism which takes Leopold’s statement “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise” to be the supreme deontological principle. In this theory, the earth’s biotic community per se is the sole locus of intrinsic v
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit