Doctoral Degrees (Philosophy)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Philosophy) by Subject "Applied ethics"

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    Towards an approach to environmental ethics responsive to environmental challenges on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Lyakurwa, Michael F.; Hattingh, J. P.; Hellsten, Sirkku K.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Philosophy.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The main purpose of the research for this dissertation has been to determine an approach to environmental ethics that could help resolve environmental challenges experienced today by people living on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. This research goal was motivated by the fact that many of the hitherto developed environmental ethics approaches fall short when called upon to provide guidance on how to resolve some of the environmental challenges experienced on the slopes of this mountain. In this regard, I demonstrate why this applies to some western approaches to environmental ethics, as well as certain efforts to base an indigenous environmental ethics on traditional African values. I also show that Norton’s process guidelines, which proceed from environmental pragmatism and the philosophy of adaptive management, provide a clue to how to effectively address the environmental challenges. Using Norton’s guidelines, I show that the challenges identified on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro are down to two underlining causes. The first one is the lack of full involvement of the local people in matters regarding environmental management on the mountain slopes. The second one, which is closely related to the first, is the loss of the sense of pride and ownership, and hence the loss of sense of place values among the people living on the mountain slopes. I argue that Norton’s process proposal is a tool that could help to address the two problems mentioned above; thus I propose some context-specific strategies that could help to concretise Norton’s process proposal. I argue that proper implementation of Norton’s process proposal implies full involvement of all stakeholders in all matters regarding environmental management on the mountain slopes, and that ongoing debates, reiterative dialogues, information gathering, and revision of goals, all of which are important aspects of process ethics, form the core of this. In short: I develop a proposal for an environmental ethics in which full involvement of all stakeholders, including the villagers, in matters regarding environmental management, stands central, with the aim of restoring the sense of pride and ownership of the mountain and its forests and, consequently, the sense of place values among the people living on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro.