4.3 Area ethics
This kind of ethics could be described as a very specific part of applied ethics. Here an area refers to a more or less clearly definable sphere of human practice that raises moral problems and questions. Such area-specific problems result from the specific functional context, taking into account empirical, i.e. concrete circumstances. Although general conclusions can certainly be drawn from the known theoretical ethics for a specific situation, it is still necessary to reflect on the thematic contexts and the area-specific level of knowledge in order to arrive at a qualified judgement of a moral issue in a specific lived reality. For more detailed information on this, see Bayertz[1], Nida-Rümelin[2] and Düwell[3].
The terms bioethics, genetic ethics, medical ethics, business ethics, environmental ethics, corporate ethics or technology ethics, to name just a few. Recently, the term "ethics" has been used increasingly in connection with "mining".
After this (incomplete) list of areas of applied ethics, it should be immediately obvious that each of these area ethics has to negotiate specific moral problems. For this specialised knowledge is indispensable. By no means do areas of applied ethics lead to a contamination of pure ethics, but rather an interdisciplinary enrichment through which ethical reflection can be made fruitful for the area-specific case.
Different areas ethics can overlap depending on how complex a morally challenging issue is.
The recent violent conflicts in the Middle East and between Russia and Ukraine paired with questions of climate change, for example, directly raise questions of resource security vis-à-vis environmental sustainability, such as when it comes to extracting critical raw materials (for renewables) or protecting a natural habitat with a huge biodiversity in one’s home country.
This current constellation also provides learning lessons: How can resources that are scarce on the world market be used in a more sustainable manner? What spin-offs does this hold for the reduction of CO2-emissions?
Last but not least, the climate crisis paired with conflicts concern the realm of political ethics. This particular ethics takes the overall societal dimension into account. How should ethical goods (e.g. biodiversity or peace) be weighed against economic goods (e.g. economic security) in order to be perceived as fair and legitimate?
The example of the climate crisis as well as of violent conflicts show that certain phenomena can fall into different areas. However, by combining ethical expertise together with area-specific expertise challenges can arise. For each area addresses the shared problem with specific terms of a central significance in this area. However, the example also shows that not all areas can always be clearly distinguished from one another concerning the relevance a phenomenon has for them. Furthermore, depending on the issue concerned, areas may merge and cannot be considered in isolation from one another.
Ethical questions of mining do not only concern a particular area of applied ethics but affect various parts of the world we live in such as the natural habitat, the political and the technological sphere, public health or the economy to name but a few.
Questions must be asked about mining procedures and their repercussions from an ethical, philosophy of science’s, anthropological and social perspective: For example, the Rhenish lignite mining area in Germany of which the Open Cast Mine of Hambach forms part with its extraction of lignite raises many questions concerning the lives of local residents, impacts for the environment, the supply with raw materials, job security and safety, understandings of sustainability, and how this affects established criteria of knowledge and truth over time.
Further reading:
Lottermoser, Bernd G.; Johannes Sieger, Michael Tost. (Ed.). 2024.
Sustainability in Mining. Vol. I.
In: ibid. Mixed Reality Handbooks Mining Engineers. Leykam. (mirebooks.osdev.at).
- Would you say that mining forms a community of practice whose members share common values and a common purpose? If so, which ones?
- Do you know any taboos that you assume the members of the mining community (more or less) share? What are they? What are the reasons for these taboos?
Time to complete approx. 30 min.
Bernd G. Lottermoser /
Matthias Schmidt (eds.)
with contributions of
Anna S. Hüncke, Nina Küpper and Sören E. Schuster
Publisher: UVG-Verlag
Year of first publication: 2024 (Work In Progress)
ISBN: 978-3-948709-26-6
Licence: Ethics in Mining Copyright © 2024 by Bernd G. Lottermoser/Matthias Schmidt is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Deed, except where otherwise noted.
