Environmental ethics and values – UGC NET Question

Environmental ethics is a branch of applied ethics that focuses on how humans ought to relate morally to the environment and non-human beings. It questions whether nature has intrinsic value beyond its utility to humans. It also debates anthropocentric, biocentric and ecocentric viewpoints regarding environmental decision-making. Therefore, its central concern is the moral relationship between human beings and the natural world, which is captured in option C.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because assessing economic value belongs more to environmental economics than environmental ethics. While ethics may question how we value nature, the central focus is not economic valuation but moral responsibility.

Option B:
Option B is incorrect as legal analysis belongs to environmental law. Ethics can influence law, but the study of statutes and regulations is not itself the main focus of environmental ethics.

Option C:
Option C is correct since it directly refers to the moral relationship between humans and nature. This includes questions about duties to animals, ecosystems and future generations, which lie at the heart of environmental ethics.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect because developing technologies for resource extraction is a technical and engineering activity. Environmental ethics may evaluate whether such technologies should be used, but it does not focus on their development.