Are we justified in our fights to save endangered species?
Even under the most opti颅mistic climate-鈥嬧�媍hange sce颅narios, species loss may reach 30 per颅cent by the end of the cen颅tury, according to Ronald San颅dler, asso颅ciate pro颅fessor of phi颅los颅ophy in the Col颅lege of Social Sci颅ences and Human颅i颅ties.
In "," a new book pub颅lished by Cam颅bridge Uni颅ver颅sity Press, San颅dler argues that rapidly changing ecosystem con颅di颅tions make it unfea颅sible and eth颅i颅cally inap颅pro颅priate to main颅tain species preser颅va颅tion as a pri颅mary ecosystem man颅age颅ment goal.
"In many cases, the more jus颅ti颅fied thing to do is to let sys颅tems tran颅si颅tion and recon颅figure," said San颅dler, the director of North颅eastern University's Ethics Insti颅tute.
Many of the cur颅rent con颅ser颅va颅tion efforts remain appro颅priate, according to San颅dler, including pro颅tecting the wilder颅ness and estab颅lishing wildlife cor颅ri颅dors. But he said efforts to pre颅serve species endan颅gered by cli颅mate change are a costly and inef颅fec颅tive protocol.
This stance is part of the book's broader dis颅cus颅sion of the value of species and the eth颅ical sig颅nif颅i颅cance of species bound颅aries in the areas of envi颅ron颅mental con颅ser颅va颅tion and biotech颅nology. In the latter case, issues of species mod颅i颅fi颅ca颅tion and the cre颅ation of new species through genetic engi颅neering are essential.
"There is nothing intrin颅si颅cally prob颅lem颅atic with genetic mod颅i颅fi颅ca颅tion," San颅dler said. "The impor颅tant eth颅ical ques颅tion isn't 'Is it genet颅i颅cally mod颅i颅fied,' but rather other issues like human rights and public health."
To explain his view颅point, he used the example of two dis颅tinct genet颅i颅cally mod颅i颅fied organ颅isms with vastly dif颅ferent social impli颅ca颅tions. The first is a genet颅i颅cally mod颅i颅fied grass cre颅ated to improve golf fairway con颅di颅tions that's resis颅tant to her颅bi颅cide and can quickly spread to other areas. The organism has the poten颅tial to be eco颅log颅i颅cally dis颅rup颅tive and ben颅e颅fits golfers almost exclusively.
On the other hand, a genet颅i颅cally mod颅i颅fied yeast strain cre颅ated to pro颅duce artemisinic acid, a pre颅cursor to an effec颅tive anti颅malarial drug, helps people in low-鈥嬧�媔ncome coun颅tries by addressing their basic health needs.
When you look at the com颅plete eth颅ical pic颅ture of biotech颅nolo颅gies, San颅dler said, "the fact that they are genet颅i颅cally mod颅i颅fied is not that significant."
With respect to humans, many people have argued that the Homo sapiens species has spe颅cial moral sig颅nif颅i颅cance that sets it apart from other species. San颅dler, on the other hand, believes that value is found in the cog颅ni颅tive and psy颅cho颅log颅ical char颅ac颅ter颅is颅tics of human beings and not in the species itself.
Sup颅pose a new species were to emerge through bio颅med颅ical research that had com颅pa颅rable abil颅i颅ties to empathize, think, feel and under颅stand the way humans do. For San颅dler, this bio颅engi颅neered species would be con颅sid颅ered as valu颅able as the human species.
"What mat颅ters are the capac颅i颅ties that indi颅vidual human beings have," he said. "The reason we should be more con颅cerned about the wel颅fare of a human being isn't because it's Homo sapiens but because of their cog颅ni颅tive and psy颅cho颅log颅ical capacities."
Provided by Northeastern University
