Humans can relate to nature through stewardship, dependence, or domination, but each model assigns different moral status to the natural world. Dependence is an ecological fact; stewardship and domination are competing ethical interpretations of how humans should respond.
Three Models of the Relationship
| Model | Central claim | Philosophical implication |
|---|---|---|
| Stewardship | Humans must protect and manage nature. | Nature may have intrinsic value, although stewardship still positions humans above it. |
| Dependence | Human life relies on ecosystems and resources. | Protection may follow from survival or from recognizing that humans belong within nature. |
| Domination | Humans may control nature as a resource. | Nature has instrumental value based on usefulness to humans. |
Domination is associated with anthropocentrism, the view that human interests have primary moral importance. It can justify extraction and technological control, but critics argue that it encourages exploitation and neglects non-human beings and future generations.
Stewardship limits domination by introducing duties of care, yet it remains potentially hierarchical: a steward manages nature from a position of authority. We must therefore ask whether humans possess the knowledge or moral right to determine nature's proper condition.
Dependence challenges the separation between humanity and nature. Ecocentrism treats ecosystems or ecological wholes as morally significant, whereas biocentrism extends moral consideration to living beings. Environmental protection then becomes more than prudent management for human benefit.
A common misconception is that human dependence proves nature has intrinsic value. It does not: dependence can support an anthropocentric argument, such as preserving forests only because humans need clean air and resources.
Exam Technique
For Philosophy and the environment (HL only), do not merely describe the models. To examine, expose assumptions about moral status; to evaluate, weigh arguments and reach a justified conclusion. Strong answers test whether stewardship escapes domination while explaining human power over nature and vulnerability within it.
