Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
(Daniels
2010b
). Daniels (
2010b
) presents an analytical framework and philo-
sophical base for understanding the causes and refining the goals behind human
and societal endeavour. Buddhist notions of interconnectedness, dependent orig-
ination and mindful consumption and production can help explain and reshape
human
motives
and
actions
for
climate
and
other
forms
of
environmental
sustainability (Daniels
2010b
).
3.1.6 Ethics
Climate change raises many questions with strong moral and ethical dimensions
that are important to address in climate-policy formation and international nego-
tiations (Wardekker et al.
2009
).
The emotional and embodied practice of narrative ethics is offered as one
possible response to the overemphasis on technical rationality within our society
and its institutions (Willis
2012
). Willis (
2012
) argues that the development of
practical wisdom (phronesis) is essential to addressing issues such as climate
change, which are not simply technical problems but are fundamentally rooted in
the human condition.
Ecoethics is an emerging discipline that trains moral attention and critical
reflection on the vastly expanded range of human productive and consumptive
powers that are causing increasing and perhaps irreparable damage to many of
Earth's ecosystems and the human communities and non-human species who
depend on those ecosystems' well-being. Ecoethics ponders the significance of
how the rapidly rising human population is so widely transforming natural
ecosystems that increasing numbers of animal and plant species are being pushed
via habitat destruction into endangerment or extinction. Likewise, ecoethics
ponders the fate of both humanity and that of all other species as it confronts rising
worries about anthropogenic or human-caused global warming or climate change
trends (French
2008
).
3.1.7 Easterlin Paradox and Happiness Economics
The Easterlin Paradox is a key concept in happiness economics. It is named for
economist and USC Professor Richard Easterlin who discussed the factors con-
tributing to happiness in the 1974 paper 'Does Economic Growth Improve the
Human Lot? Some Empirical Evidence'. Easterlin found that within a given
country people with higher incomes are more likely to report being happy.
However, in international comparisons, the average reported level of happiness
does not vary much with national income per person, at least for countries with
income sufficient to meet basic needs. Similarly, although income per person rose
steadily in the United States between 1946 and 1970, average reported happiness
showed no long-term trend and declined between 1960 and 1970. The implication
for government policy is that once basic needs are met, and policy should focus not
