Dear Laurie,
I am too busy at the moment to engage in a debate on this issue, but I
suggest that it is neither quaint nor 19th century in particular. I am not
even sure it is not maintainable outside of a religious context. Within
one, though, it is fair to say that birds exist for man's sake.
Kiran
On Wed, 9 Oct 2002, Laurie&Leanne Knight wrote:
> Kiran Krishna wrote:
> >
> > Well, the environment exists for man rather than the other way round.
> >
> > Kiran
> >
>
> Hmmm, that is a rather quaint nineteenth century way of looking at the world
> Kiran. Reminds me of that old "go out an subdue the earth" mentality that
> caused many of the environmental messes we have to clean up.
>
> I don't think that there is any scientific evidence available to date that
> shows
> that the environment exists for our benefit. Philosophically, that's like
> saying birds would not exist if humans weren't around to observe them.
>
> A society that just takes out from the environment [as opposed to a society
> that
> practices net gain - makes an effort to put back more than it takes out] is
> like
> a bunch of birdwatchers who just twitch and do nothing to advance the welfare
> of
> the birds they observe.
>
> With bird conservation and other aspects of life, ask not what the environment
> can do for you [eg bring forth a paradise parrot] but what you can do for the
> environment.
>
>
> Regards, Laurie.
> Birding-Aus is on the Web at
> www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message
> "unsubscribe birding-aus" (no quotes, no Subject line)
> to
>
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kiran Krishna
3rd yr physics
(Falkiner High Energy Physics)
University of Sydney
NSW 2006
--------------------------------------------
The strong man with the dagger is followed by the weaker man with the
sponge. First the criminal who slays then the sophist who defends the
slayer.
-Lord Acton
http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~kiran
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