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eighty years must undermine the belief that we can attain suf
cient under-
standing of how ecosystems respond to human intervention to devise
technologies and controls for preventing ecological harm. In addition, to
the extent that we can rely on current theories in ecology, they indicate that
our traditional use of science to inform us about what we can do without
causing environmental harm is not viable for ecological protection. This
is because we cannot predict with any con
dence how ecosystems will
react to disturbances or identify points at which an ecosystem is at risk of
undergoing a change in state. Furthermore, we do not know how the
xes
that we employ to address extant problems of our creation will affect
ecosystem functionality in other respects. These considerations suggest
that we should move towards basing our decisions on broad principles as
to how we should act in relation to ecosystems rather than retaining an
ill-founded faith in science
s predictive capacities, stemming as this does
fromdiscredited assumptions that the functioning of the natural world as a
whole can be understood through the study of its components.
120
'
2.5.2 Revaluing nature
How would the way in which we value nature change if perception of
humanity
s relationship with it were based on our new understanding
of the natural world rather than on the historical perception which this
reveals to be erroneous? Environmental ethicists of the
'
'
school have argued that comprehension of the reality of our place in
the world must lead to an intrinsic valuation of nature.
121
My view is
that this is not necessarily the case. Nor would it be desirable if the aim
is to develop an ethic with practical effects. Having a clear grasp of our
reliance on the benignity of natural systems for our own existence and
awareness of the way in which our actions undermine them would
enable us to develop values and ethical positions that would provide a
high level of environmental protection without resorting to arguments
that we should value and therefore preserve nature whether or not it is in
our interests to do so.
As I have already noted, the concern of ecocentric ethicists with an
'
deep green
'
anthropocentric
'
or a
'
shallow
'
ethics is that humanity
'
s self-interest
120
Marocco,
'
Climate Change
'
, pp. 316
-
8; Burdon,
'
Eco-centric Paradigm
'
, p. 88; D. Ludwig
et al.,
'
Uncertainty, Resource Exploitation, and Conservation: Lessons fromHistory
'
(1993)
260 Science, 17 and 36.
121
Curry,
'
Ecological Ethics
'
,pp.92
-
4.
