SURVIVAL OR COMMUNITY: A CRITIQUE OF GARRETT HARDIN'S ;;LIFEBOAT ETHICS;; BASED UPON PAUL TILLICH'S ONTOLOGICAL THEOLOGY
[摘要] Although specific articles by the biologist Garrett Hardin have been frequently cited there is a lack of critical analysis of them and of his position as a whole. Hardin;;s position has two basic problems: it holds survival to be the ultimate value and it views mankind primarily in biological terms. These problems lead to a rejection of traditional moral values, to an inadequate view of society and to a limited view of the nature of mankind which limits morality to the members of one;;s tribe. Hardin emphasizes survival as a value and a biological view of man to support the assumption that present generations have an obligation to all the future generations of mankind. A critical exploration of the influence of the works of Bridgman and Schoeck on Hardin;;s thought clarifies his presuppositions about ethics, society and the nature of mankind. This clarification, in conjunction with an analysis of the development of Hardin;;s thought from ;;The Tragedy of the Commons;; through ;;Carrying Capacity as an Ethical Concept;;, reveals the inadequacies of his position. A review of the literature on obligations to future generations, a major concern of Hardin;;s, provides the groundwork for a consideration of the nature of moral community and suggests that a concept of moral community can ground obligations to future generations in a manner that appreciates the importance of biology while recognizing the human transcendence of biology through culture and while maintaining traditional moral values. This dissertation argues that community is a better ultimate value than survival. Building upon Tillich;;s theology, an alternative which avoids the problems in Hardin;;s position is constructed. Hardin;;s and Tillich;;s positions are compared by considering three elements of moral community: the spatial boundaries, the temporal boundaries, and communal being. The Tillichian position furnishes a better basis than Hardin;;s for dealing with the question of obligations to future generations and lays the groundwork for constructing an ecological ethic.
[发布日期] [发布机构] Rice University
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