Categorical Imperative in Defense of Strong Sustainability
Pankojini Mulia
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad-826004 (India)
Ajit Kumar Behura
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad-826004 (India)
Sarita Kar
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad-826004 (India)
Abstract
Strong sustainability defends that certain forms of natural capital (environment) are critical and therefore, non-substitutable. There is an increasing concern for conserving the natural environment due to its unique contribution for sustenance and wellbeing of all living beings. The development process which does not preserve its natural capital is bound to lead towards an unsustainable growth path. In the wake of strong sustainability, it is an imperative to preserve the natural environment as it is degrading beyond its threshold limit. The ethical aspect of strong sustainability raises the ethical question what is right thing to do and emphasizes on ethical relations of humans with natural environment. The paper defends strong sustainability from Kant’s Categorical Imperative. Categorical Imperative motivates every human to act out of duty. Actions done for the sake of duty alone are morally worthy. A duty is the relationship between one’s moral action and his autonomy of the will. Concerning the sustenance and wellbeing of the present and the future generation, it is the moral duty of the humans to preserve the natural environment.
Keywords:
strong sustainability, weak sustainability, natural capital, categorical imperatives, direct and indirect dutyReferences
ADAMS W. M., 2006, The Future of Sustainability: Re-thinking Environment and Development in the Twenty-first Century, in: The IUCN Renowned Thinkers Meetings, p. 29-31.
Google Scholar
BECKERMAN W., 1995, How Would You Like your Sustainability Sir? Weak or Strong? A reply to my Critics, in: Environmental Values, vol. 4, p. 169-179.
Google Scholar
BRAND F., 2009, Critical Natural Capital Revisited: Ecological Resilience and Sustainable Development, in: Ecological Economic, vol. 68, p. 605-612.
Google Scholar
DALY H.E., 2005, Economics in Full World, in: Scientific American, vol. 3, p. 100-107.
Google Scholar
DEAN R., 2006, The Value of Humanity in Kant’s Moral Theory, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Google Scholar
DIETZ S., NEUMAYER E., 2007, Weak and Strong Sustainability in the SEEA: Concepts and Measurement, in: Ecological Economics, vol. 61, p. 617-626.
Google Scholar
EKINS P., 2011, Environmental Sustainability: From Environmental Valuation to the Sustainability Gap, Progress in: Physical Geography, vol. 35, no 5, p. 629-651.
Google Scholar
EKINS P., SIMON S., DEUTSCH L., FOLKE C., DE GROOT R., 2003, A Framework for the Practical Application of the Concepts Critical Natural Capital and Strong Sustainability, in: Ecological Economics, vol. 44, p. 165-185.
Google Scholar
ELKINGTON J., 1997, Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Lines of 21st Century Business, Capstone Publishing, Oxford.
Google Scholar
GILLROY M. J., 1998, Kant’s Conservationism’ in his paper ‘Kantian Ethics and Environmental Policy Argument: Autonomy, Ecosystem Integrity, and our Duties to Nature, in: Ethics and Environment, vol. 3, no 2, p.131-155
Google Scholar
HARTMAN L.P., CHATTERJEE A., 2007, Perspectives on Business Ethics, Tata McGraw Hill Education Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
Google Scholar
HARTWICK J.M., 1977, Intergenerational Equity and the Investing of Rents from Exhaustible Resources, in: The American Economic Review, vol. 67, no 5, p. 972-974.
Google Scholar
HEDIGER W., 1999, Reconciling Weak and Strong Sustainability, in: International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 26 no 7/8/9, p. 1120-1144.
Google Scholar
JAMIESON D., 1998, Sustainability and beyond, in: Ecological Economics, vol. 24, p. 183-192.
Google Scholar
JAIN P., JAIN P., 2013, Sustainability Assessment Index: A Strong Sustainability Approach to Measure Sustainable Human Development, in: International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, vol. 20, no 2, p. 116-122.
Google Scholar
JICKLING B., SAUVE L., BRIERE L., NIBLETT B., ROOT E., 2009, The 5th World Environmental Education Congress, 2009: A Research Project, in: Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, vol. 15, p. 47-67.
Google Scholar
KANT I., 1785, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, (ed. & trans. Gregor M. J.) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1996.
Google Scholar
KANT I., 1788, Critique of Practical Reason, (ed. & trans. Gregor M. J.) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1996.
Google Scholar
KANT I., 1797, The Metaphysics of Morals, (ed. & trans. Gregor M. J.) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1996.
Google Scholar
MATVICYCHUK A., 2014, Ecological Deontology in the Context of Solving the Task of Ecologization of Modern Man Thinking, in: Problemy Ekorozwoju/ Problems of Sustainable Development, vol. 9, no 1, p. 151-156.
Google Scholar
MEDHURST J., EKINS P., 2006, The European Structural Funds and Sustainable Development: A Methodology and Indicator Framework for Evaluation, in: Evaluation, vol. 12, no 4, p. 474-495.
Google Scholar
NEUMAYER E., 2012, Human Development and Sustainability, in: Journal of Human Development Capabilities, vol. 13, no 4, p. 561-579.
Google Scholar
PEET J., Strong Sustainability for New Zealand: Principles and Scenario, SANZ (Phase-2) Report, Nakedize Ltd., New Zealand 2009.
Google Scholar
PELENC J., BALLET J., 2015, Strong Sustainability, Critical Natural Capital and the Capability Approach, in: Ecological Economics, vol. 112, p. 36-44.
Google Scholar
SOLOW R.M., 1974, Intergenerational equity and exhaustible resources, in: Review of economic studies: symposium of the economics of exhaustible resources, p. 29-46.
Google Scholar
STOCKHOLM CONFERENCE, 1972, Declaration of United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Sweden, Stockholm.
Google Scholar
TRUEMAN H.S., 1951, Annual Message to the Congress: the President’s Economic Report, The American Presidency Project, Online by G. Peters & J.T.Woolley, http://www.presidency. ucsb.edu (11.09.2015).
Google Scholar
UNCED, 1992, Agenda 21, Conches, UNCED Secretariat, Switzerland, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Agenda21.pdf (27.11.2015).
Google Scholar
Authors
Pankojini MuliaDepartment of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad-826004 India
Authors
Ajit Kumar BehuraDepartment of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad-826004 India
Authors
Sarita KarDepartment of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad-826004 India
Statistics
Abstract views: 18PDF downloads: 7
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.