Sharks are disappearing from many places in the ocean because of overharvesting. Many people regard shark finning as wasteful, cruel, and unethical.
Environmental ethics asks about moral relationships between humans and the world around us. How ought we, as moral beings, behave?
Utilitarians believe in actions that bring the greatest good to the greatest number. Biocentrism teaches us that all living things deserve respect and have inherent value and rights.
Anthropocentrism claims that humans have unique, intrinsic rights and values that entitle us to use (or abuse) the world and its resources however we choose, while stewardship sees our proper role as caretakers of our environment.
Ecofeminism sees a link between violence against oppressed people and environmental abuse. It advocates pluralistic, nonhierarchical relationships between people and their environment.
Environmental racism results in inequitable distribution of access to resources and exposure to hazards based on race.
Science depends on making accurate observations and then formulating rational theories and tests to understand natural phenomena. Explanations in science are generally considered to be only provisionally true because there is always a possibility that some additional evidence may be found that disproves what we now believe to be correct. Science can prove a hypothesis wrong, but can rarely prove something unquestionably true.
Science assumes that the world is knowable, that the forces at work now are the same as those in the past, and that where equally plausible explanations exist, we should choose the simpler one.
One of the most important tests of scientific data is reproducibility. If you and others can't repeat an observation, it doesn't count for much.
Deductive reasoning starts with a general principle and predicts specific results. Inductive reasoning starts with observations and suggests principles to explain them.
A hypothesis is a testable, provisional explanation. In science, a theory is a general principle supported by an overwhelming body of data widely accepted by the scientific community.
A paradigm is an all-encompassing model that explains how the world works. It determines not only how we understand phenomena, but how we think about them, what language we use, and what is legitimate to ask about them. From time to time, our paradigms shift as new evidence becomes available, but it's usually very difficult to overturn entrenched worldviews.
