Editing Environmental ethics (section)

=== Virtue ethics ===
[[Environmental virtue ethics|Virtue ethics]] states that some character traits should be cultivated, and others avoided. This framework avoids problems of defining what is of intrinsic value, by instead arguing that what is important is to act in accordance with the correct character trait. The [[Golden mean (philosophy)|Golden mean]] formulation, for example, states that to be 'generous' (virtue), one should neither be miserly (deficiency) or extravagant (excess). Unlike [[deontology]] and consequentialism, theories of virtue focus their formulations on how the individual has to act to live a [[Eudaimonia|flourishing life]]. This presents a 'subjective flexibility' which seems like an adequate position to hold considering the fluctuating demands of sustainability.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hill|first=Thomas E.|date=1983|title=Ideals of Human Excellence and Preserving Natural Environments|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5840/enviroethics19835327|journal=Environmental Ethics|volume=5|issue=3|pages=211–224|doi=10.5840/enviroethics19835327|issn=0163-4275}}</ref>  However, as a consequence, it can also be said that this is an inherently anthropocentric standpoint.

Some [[Ecofeminism|Ecofeminist]] theories such as that of [[Val Plumwood]], have been categorised as a form of virtue ethics. Plumwood argues that a virtue-based ethical framework adapts more fittingly to environmental diversity, as virtues such as 'respect', 'gratitude', and 'sensitivity', are not only suitable to ecological subjectivity but also more applicable to the views of indigenous people.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Plumwood|first=Val|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/51779272|title=Feminism and the mastery of nature|date=1993|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-203-00675-5|location=London|pages=183|oclc=51779272}}</ref> Furthermore, what traits would be considered as part of environmental ''vices''? Ronald Sandler argues that detrimental dispositions to human flourishing such as 'greed', 'intemperance' and 'arrogance', lead to detrimental dispositions to the protection of the environment such as 'apathy', against other species, and 'pessimism' about conservation.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sandler|first=Ronald L.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/607781405|title=Character and environment : a virtue-oriented approach to environmental ethics|date=2007|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-51186-5|location=New York|pages=6–7|oclc=607781405}}</ref> Views such as this, create a [[Mutualism (biology)|mutualistic]] connection between virtuous human flourishing, and environmental flourishing.