Institutional Global Ethics: Applications

This article discusses institutional global ethics and its applications. Different approaches to applied ethics are discussed. The discussion focuses on whether a set of plausible ethical principles can be found that have global application to institutions of various forms in contexts connected with sustainability and human well-being generally. The article is divided into four major sections. Section one examines the concept of sustainability. By examining some major definitions of the term, the concept of sustainability is shown to be a morality-laden concept. There can be different conceptions of sustainability, depending on one’s moral perspective. Section two discusses the Kantian approach and its implications for sustainability. The discussion focuses on Kant’s two versions of categorical imperative: the formula of universal law and the formula of humanity. Throughout the discussion, a distinction between actuality-dependent and non-actuality-dependent principles is maintained so as to clarify the moral issue regarding moral obligations to future generations. Section three discusses the utilitarian approach and its implications for sustainability. The discussion focuses on the non-anthropocentric aspect of the utilitarian approach, particularly its implication for the moral considerability of animals. Section four discusses some ethical approaches that attempt to provide an ethical foundation for non-welfarist environmental concerns. The discussion focuses on three different ethical approaches: the perfectionist, the community-based, and the biocentric.