Environment, ethics and religion : can religious philosophies enhance environmental ethics?

[摘要] ENGLISH SUMMARY : The environment we live in is plagued with pollution, over-population and various other forms ofdegradation. The existing philosophies within environmental ethics have been found inadequate to deal with the state of the environment today. In this thesis the various forms of environmentaldegradation will be discussed, and environmental philosophies will be reviewed to ascertain whetherthey are indeed inadequate to deal with such degradation and to bring about attitudinal and behavioural change with regards to the environment. In recent times there has been a call for a newethic that will help change the attitudes humans have towards the environment, with the hope of minimising or reducing the negative impact of these attitudes. One possible source to transform thisstatus quo is religion. This thesis will argue that religious philosophies and principles can be adopted to complement existing environmental philosophies, thereby enhancing the protection of theenvironment. In particular, the religious principles of Gaudiya Vaishnavism and Buddhism will be discussed and will be compared to existing environmental philosophies such as deep ecology, witha view to developing a new environmental ethical framework.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University