Endangered species and biodiversity (Encyclopedia of Bioethics)
Date
1995
Authors
Rolston, Holmes, 1932-, author
Simon and Schuster, publisher
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
Reliable estimates are that about 20 percent of Earth's species may be lost within a few decades, about evenly distributed through major groups of plants and animals. The United Nations at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro launched the Convention on Biological Diversity. The U.S. Congress has sought to protect species through the Endangered Species Act. Almost all inhabited lands are impoverished of their native fauna and flora. On an anthropocentric account, the duties involved are to persons; there are no duties to endangered species, though duties may concern species. There is something morally naive, about living in a reference frame where one species values everything else relative to its utility. Biodiversity is the common heritage of humankind, all nations share duties to protect it.
Description
Includes bibliographical references.
Was republished with title: Endangered Species and Biodiversity: Ethical Issues, pages 748-752, volume 2, in Encyclopedia of Bioethics, 3rd ed., 3rd ed. Stephen G. Post, Editor-in-Chief (New York: Macmillan Reference/Thomson Gale, 2004).
Was republished with title: Endangered Species and Biodiversity: Ethical Issues, pages 748-752, volume 2, in Encyclopedia of Bioethics, 3rd ed., 3rd ed. Stephen G. Post, Editor-in-Chief (New York: Macmillan Reference/Thomson Gale, 2004).
Rights Access
Subject
endangered species
biodiversity
Convention on Biological Diversity
Endangered Species Act
anthropocentrism
duties to persons
duties concerning species
duties to species
values
common heritage of humankind