Environmental Ideologies

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Environmental Ideologies and Views on Nature
Laura Metrick
Slippery Rock University

Abstract
This paper explores my personal thoughts on nature and which ideologies fit those thoughts. It examines various childhood experiences and how they have transformed into my views on the environment and several ideologies that fit those views. Many ideologies are examined including conservationism, preservationism and animal rights as define by Corbett (2006). The use of the environment for human use is discussed.

Growing up on a large vegetable farm in Western Pennsylvania meant that most of my childhood was spent outside. The first thing we did when we got home from school was head to the barn to do our chores because …show more content…

My view of nature is a little different. As soon as we were done with our work for the day, my cousins and I would pack some snacks and head to the woods on the edge of our property and spend the day exploring the cave deep in the woods, building cabins out of sticks and trying to fish in the Connoquenessing Creek that ran through our property. While I did spend a lot of time in this type of setting, most of my experiences in nature happened in wide open fields. According to Sobel (2008), “One transcendent experience in nature is worth a thousand nature facts.” I strongly agree with this statement because my childhood experiences in nature have shaped my views and led me to my future career of being an agriculture …show more content…

For example, animal rights ideology holds that nonhuman animals are “another aggrieved group being subject to unjustifiable discrimination by a privileged group (humans) with the power to indulge their urge to discriminate” (Corbett, 2006). I have a strong belief in the proper treatment of animals but also believe that animals are for human use. I believe that this belief goes back to my upbringing on a farm. Each year we would have a few cattle and hogs that we would raise, show at the county fair and then sell or send to market. From a young age I understood that these animals would at some point be used for food.
While looking further into this topic I examined the difference between animal welfare and animal rights. The American Veterinary Medical Association defines animal welfare as a “human responsibility that encompasses all aspects of animal well-being, including proper housing, management, disease prevention and treatment, responsible care and humane handling” (Welfare vs. Rights). While I do not believe fully in an animal rights ideology, I strongly agree with the viewpoints of animal

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