Reverence for Life and the Land Ethic

In the Reverence for Life section, I liked how Kohak presented us with Schweitzer, because for once I actually wholeheartedly agree with the statements he makes. Essentially Schweitzer goes into detail about biocentrism and how "any life is a source of meaning and value". One quote that stood out to me was "I am a life which wants to live, and I live amid a community of life that wants to live". This quote interested me because every being on earth is facing this mentality of wanting to live a life of integrity. Schweitzer pushes for every person to do their own will and try to live their life to the fullest and not perform destructive actions, for example destroying nature. If one person lives up to their own standards they set and devote themselves to the good not evil of life, this could be a step towards a biocentric society. Every being deserves respect, so if the society understands that, we could potentially become a society where all lives are a sense of meaning and value.

Kohak presents us with another philosopher, Paul Taylor who describes the biocentric attitude of the world. The first way is how he thinks human beings are equal members of the community of all beings. With this in mind it is saying that humans have just as much right as other beings that have a life. The second conviction that Taylor presents is that earth is a web of mutual dependence. This idea expresses that earth is considered a group and a collection of objects and it treats life by many different parts but as a whole. The third conviction is that every member of the community is valuable. Every being has the right to life as long as their demands are not overwhelming to the biotic community surrounding them. Over Kohak in this section is conveying that every being's life is not individually looked at but rather as a whole and in harmony of all lives.

The second section, the Land Ethic, Kohak presents us with yet another philosopher who coins the term land ethic. Leopold presents the idea of land ethic and how it needs to have a balance between the whole community within. Leopold suggests that a community will survive only if the beings in the community can live within the limits of the community and have a balance between the limits. I like how Leopold explains how an individual may have a hard time accepting death but they have to understand death is a part of life. Leopold relates to Schweitzer because Schweitzer says how an individual is a life that wants to live which causes an increase in the conflict of people accepting the idea of death which is the challenge of life today according to Leopold.