Considered by many to be the father of wildlife ecology and the United States’ wilderness system, Aldo Leopold was a conservationist, forester, philosopher, educator, writer, and outdoor enthusiast.

The preservation ethic suggests that nature itself has intrinsic value and deserves protection. Some preservationists assert that all life forms have rights equal to those of humans. Others seek to preserve nature for aesthetic or recreational reasons.

In Leopold’s vision of a land ethic, the relationships between people and land are intertwined: care for people cannot be separated from care for the land. A land ethic is a moral code of conduct that grows out of these interconnected caring relationships.

Biocentric ethics argues that the only nonarbitrary ground for assigning moral standing is life itself and thus extends the boundary of moral standing about as far as it can go. All living beings, simply by virtue of being alive, have moral standing and deserve moral consideration.

Leopold knew that direct contact with the natural world was a key factor in shaping our ability to extend our ethics beyond our own self-interest. Leopold also recognized that the relationship between people and each other and people and land was a complex one, and an evolutionary process.

There are many different principles on which to draw in moral reasoning about specific environmental problems. This lesson reviews three basic pairs of principles: justice and sustainability; sufficiency and compassion; solidarity and participation.

Managerial ethics, are standards of conduct or moral judgement used by managers of organizations in caring out their business. Archi B Carroll, notes that three major levels of moral or ethical, judgement characterize managers: immoral management, amoral management, and moral management.

of principles incorporate the characteristics and values that most people associate with ethical behavior.

1. HONESTY.
2. INTEGRITY.
3. PROMISE-KEEPING & TRUSTWORTHINESS.
4. LOYALTY.
5. FAIRNESS.
6. CONCERN FOR OTHERS.
7. RESPECT FOR OTHERS.
8. LAW ABIDING.

There are different ways to approach decision making by considering four key elements, or rules: the utilitarian rule, moral rights, justice rule, and practical rule.

• 1 – GATHER THE FACTS. □ Don’t jump to conclusions without the facts.
• 2 – DEFINE THE ETHICAL ISSUE(S)
• 3 – IDENTIFY THE AFFECTED PARTIES.
• 4 – IDENTIFY THE CONSEQUENCES.
• 5 – IDENTIFY THE RELEVANT PRINCIPLES,
• 6 – CONSIDER YOUR CHARACTER &
• 7 – THINK CREATIVELY ABOUT POTENTIAL.
• 8 – CHECK YOUR GUT.

Values play a central role in ethical decision making. What people value they find worthy of their pursuit and pursue only that which they value. In short, values are one of the prime motivating factors in human behavior. Values are definitive of our person.