The Immorality of Ecosabotage
how the action is immoral by predicting the future ramifications of an ecosabotager’s actions. In section III, I will provide a counterargument to this claim, and then re-validate my philosophy by providing a real-life scenario. In section IV, I will discuss why Carol Gilligan’s ethics of care is a morally justified action, and a better fit for discussing and thinking about climate change. In section V, I will conclude on what the future could look like implementing the Ethic of Care within a mentality surrounding climate change by looking through the lens of responsibility. II. Defining Ecosabotage As ecosabotage becomes more relevant, many philosophers have attempted define it. Michael Martin suggests a definition comprised of four separate elements, stating that, “Person P’s act A is an act of ecosabotage iff (1) in doing A, P has as P’s aim to stop, frustrate, or slow down some process or act that P believes will harm or damage the environment, (2) P’s act A is motivated by a sense of religious or moral concern, (3) is illegal, and (4) A is not a public act.” 1 This is a solid definition of what ecosabotage could be, and although this was not Martin’s initial point, he helps prove why ecosabotage is an immoral act. The most salient condition Martin puts into his definition is the first. Essentially, he claims that an act of ecosabotage should have a goal of putting an end to what the person doing the eco-sabotaging believes is causing damage to the environment. To this end, the definition does not offer any boundaries as to what “harm or damage to the environment” means, which leaves it up to the ecosaboteur to decide what is harming the environment or not. While one can hope that someone committing an act of ecosabotage will hold what is best for the environment first, one must account for what goes into deciding whether something that cannot speak for itself is being harmed. Martin emphasizes the importance of ascertaining that an act of ecosabotage is not going to have a worse impact on the environment than what another force may impose upon it, but this is a perpetuation of the human
1 Martin, “Ecosabotage and Civil Disobedience,” 294.
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