Biodiversity Loss, the Motivational Gap, and the Failure of Conservation Education

Southwest Philosophy Review 26 (1):119-130 (2010)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

While the precipitous decline of biodiversity threatens life-sustaining processes and vast segments of the human population, concern about its loss remains extremely shallow. Nearly all motivational campaigns falsely assume that upon appreciating the relevant information, people will be sufficiently motivated to do something. But rational argumentation is doomed to fail, for there exists a motivational gap between a comprehension of the crisis and action taken based upon such knowledge. The origin of the gap lies neither in the quantity and quality of information on the crisis, nor in the putative conflict between self-interest and morality. Instead, it lies in “remoteness conditions” which dissociate decision-makers from ecological damage and enfeeble incentive to correct it. The central remoteness conditions are spatial, temporal, and consequential. They can be eliminated by concretizing and particularizing earth others. While direct-experience, place-based educational programs satisfy the criteria, they are uncommon. There is also little opportunity for working adultsto engage in these sorts of activities. As such, the outlook for endangered species and humans in the developing world remains dire

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,221

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

A motivational turn for environmental ethics.Carol Booth - 2009 - Ethics and the Environment 14 (1):pp. 53-78.
Species Extinction and Collective Responsibility.Markku Oksanen - 2007 - The Proceedings of the Twenty-First World Congress of Philosophy 3:179-183.
What is Biodiversity?James Maclaurin & Kim Sterelny - 2008 - University of Chicago Press.
Some political problems for rewilding nature.John Hintz - 2007 - Ethics, Place and Environment 10 (2):177 – 216.
Detaining livelihoods and disputing biodiversity: Whose dilemma?Delali B. K. Dovie - 2003 - Ethics, Place and Environment 6 (1):27 – 41.
Solidarity: A Motivational Conception.Mariam Thalos - 2012 - Philosophical Papers 41 (1):57-95.
Naturalness and conservation in France.Annik Schnitzler, Jean-Claude Génot, Maurice Wintz & Brack W. Hale - 2008 - Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 21 (5):423-436.
A philosopher goes wild. [REVIEW]Anya Plutynski - 2007 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 38 (1):289-296.

Analytics

Added to PP
2012-03-18

Downloads
85 (#181,145)

6 months
6 (#201,673)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

William Grove-Fanning
University of Portland

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references