Agriculture’s Ethical Horizon: Third Edition covers the changing environment in which practitioners of agriculture are challenged to produce food for the world. Fully revised and updated, the book encourages discussions on the moral questions that agriculture faces, including what goals should agricultural science pursue and how should practitioners address important ethical questions which are different and more complex than the dominating questions of production? The book presents the story of agriculture from the blood, sweat and tears era, to the present genetic era, including the paradox of agriculture.
This book is ideal for agricultural students, practitioners and anyone who would like to understand the tremendous responsibility of agricultural production. It presents a foundation for the important discussions and decisions that will be necessary to support the future of agriculture.
Key Features
- Presents critical-thinking considerations based on extensive, real-world experience
- Challenges all those interested in food production to more fully explore agricultural systems
- Fully revised and updated to include current and emerging challenges and their potential future impacts on the world’s food supply
1. Preface
1 Introduction
Scientific truth and myth
The Big Questions
The University
Snow’s Two Cultures and Agriculture
2The conduct of agricultural science
A Brief Story of Agriculture
Blood sweat and tears era
The mechanical era
The chemical era
The evolving genomic, genetic modification era
What research ought to be done?
3 When things go wrong
An example - The development of herbicides
Progress of weed science
Challenges
The continuing debate
4 An introduction to ethics
Science and emotion
Universal values
Ethics in agriculture
Contemporary normative ethics
Ethics and morality
Moral theories relevant to agriculture
Ethical egoism
Social contract theory
Virtue theory
Deontological or Kantian ethics
Utilitarianism
Should ethics be involved in agriculture and agricultural science?
Multiple Strategies Utilitarianism
5Moral confidence in agriculture
The benefits and costs of modern agriculture
Goals for agriculture
Social goals for agriculture
Environmental goals for agriculture
Expanding agriculture’s moral scope
The utilitarian standard
The relevance of the Western agricultural model
Bottom line thinking
sustainability
Conclusion
6The relevance of ethics to agriculture
Agricultures Moral Dilemmas
The Environment
Concerns About Agriculture
Sustainability
Pesticides
Antibiotics
Exploitation of and Cruelty to Migrant labor
Loss of biodiversity
Animals
Biotechnology, genetic engineering, and GMOs
CRISPR
Mining water
The environment
Bio energy
Concluding Comment
7. Ethics in Agriculture and Other Disciplines
Surveys
The University
The Ethical Dimension
Medical schools
Law schools
Veterinary medicine
Business schools
Agricultural societies
Psychology
A Few Final Words
8.Agricultural sustainability
The present agricultural situation: The example of weed management
The moral case for sustainability
What should be sustained?
Why must sustainability be achieved?
A concluding comment on sustainable weed science
9.Agricultural biotechnology
Chapters 9 - 12 will be heavily edited after review of the relevant articles in the Journals of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, Journal of Agricultural Ethics , Journal of Alternative Agriculture, and other relevant journals. My review will emphasize articles that have appeared since 2012.
The debate
Technological problems
Regulation
Arguments in favor of agricultural biotechnology
Arguments opposed to agricultural biotechnology
Feeding the world
Harm to human health
Harm to the environment
Transgenic technology and sustainable agricultural systems
The moral arguments
Labeling and biotechnology in the US and the EU
Affects on family farms
Academic-industry relationships
Transgenic pharming
The precautionary principle
10.Alternative/organic agriculture
The modern/conventional system
Characteristics
Farmers and productivity
Transition and advantages
Ethical problems
11Animals
Western thought and the line
A person
Arguments in support or animal agriculture
Arguments against animal agriculture
Animal biotechnology
In-Vitro meat
12. A glimpse ahead
Six important issues / problems / matters of concern
Agricultural production
Soil erosion
Desertification.
Depletion of water resources
Climate change
Pollution
Loss of farmers
Population
Dominant scientific myths
The myth of infinite benefit
The myth that science and scientists are value-free
The myth of unfettered research
The myth of accountability
The myth of authoritativeness
The myth of the endless frontier
Production and ethics
The imperative of responsibility
Finding partners
Mission statements
The role of the university
Sustainability as a goal
13. Approaching Consensus
Agriculture’s Paradigm
Approaching Moral Issues
A few examples of progress
Organic agricultural programs
Anyone engaged in agriculture including students, researchers, and professionals in environmental studies, horticulture, plant science, and soil science. Those involved in associated regional and county offices, farmers and ranchers, agricultural chemical companies, and all those employed by other phases of the agricultural industry
