Blog #9

Kohak finishes his book with a summary of his feelings on the matter of ecological ethics. He states that normally he does not offer his opinions because he feels it is his job to educate others, and their job to make up their own minds about where they stand on the issues. This stood out to me because it is a classy position to take, trying not to force his opinions on others. I don't think he was entirely successful in that respect in this book, but I do believe he tried, which does make a difference in my mind.

Kohak states that although he has learned from all the theories he mentioned throughout the book, the theories that advocate doing something as opposed to just sitting around waiting for our demise have always appealed to him. He says that philosophers such as Leopold and Schweitzer hold special places in his heart because he sympathizes most with their viewpoints.

I enjoyed reading this final section of Kohak's book because it was nice to finally learn what he really thinks after all this time (although, one could argue that he wasn't too detailed about his own beliefs). I agree with him that a philosophy of "flannel ecology" - a theory that encourages action - is the most attractive of all the philosophies he presented. I prefer to believe there is hope for the world and that with some hard work, we can all make a difference for the better. Kohak states a few times that we need to both improve our technology and lessen our demands. I agree with that because with those two factors working together, I think we have a shot a fixing all that we've broken. I disagree, though, with the idea that to limit our demands we should limit our numbers. I had trouble deciding if Kohak was implying he was supportive of population control, but either way I disagree with the idea. Educating people across the world about family planning, yes. But I don't think I could ever support a system like they have in China where families are allowed only a certain amount of children. Besides, like Kohak stated, most of the demand comes from the rich of the world, and their numbers aren't growing as rapidly as the rest. So the real challenge is going to be getting all those who are used to over consumption (myself included) to adapt to a simpler way of life.