On Taking Care of Mother Earth – Another Thought

Here’s another remark for our reader who denies a duty to take care of our planet, expressing himself in this comment in my recent post:

There is no “Mother Earth”, nor are we required to be “good stewards” to anyone but our own best interests. 

This fellow seems prepared to throw away the entire development of philosophy of religion over the past 5000 years in favor of the thinking of Ayn Rand.  (Here’s a hilarious piece on the subject.)

Seriously, though, it’s a bit radical, putting it kindly, to discard each of the following (presented in chronological order) simply because some lady comes along and tells you it’s fine (in fact, it’s best) to be selfish.  Obviously there are hundreds of others, but these are the real household names on the subject:

• Socrates’/Plato’s examination of virtue

• Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics

• Jesus’ teachings

• Kant’s categorical imperative

• John Stuart Mill’s “greatest good for the greatest number”

And even if we forget about philosophy, we’re still stuck with biology.  The human species evolved such that the vast majority of people have some sort of moral compass that tells them in no uncertain terms that they have a duty not to hurt others simply to bring gain to themselves.  There are a few, of course, tragically born with no conscience, but we refer to them, correctly, I believe, as “sociopaths.”