As agriculture can have a big impact on the planet and play an important role in many peoples' lives, it is appropriate for us to consider the ethical implications of farming methods and new agricultural technologies.
Ethics is the study of moral principles - the rules that determine the standards for human behaviour. An ethical consideration is a question about whether or not something is the right thing to do. By thinking about and discussing ethical considerations, we can find reasons for acting in one way or another. However, like a lot of things in life, people often don't agree when discussing ethical considerations!
The reason people often don’t agree on what is moral is because it is sometimes unclear
what’s
right and what’s wrong. Should we always act in ways that harm the fewest people?
If so, how do we know what action will cause the least harm? Who can say for sure what will
come from acting in one way or another? And what counts as ‘harm’?
With so much uncertainty and disagreement in the world, ethical questions are often very
hard to answer.
However, just because ethical questions are difficult to answer and involve a lot of disagreement, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about them! It’s very important that you know your own morality and question why you think actions are right or wrong. Once you start to question your own views, you might find that your morality is different to what you expected.
Just because people don’t always agree, however, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t discuss
these topics. Now, let’s look at some important ethical considerations relating to the use
of technology in agriculture.
There are no right or wrong answers here. Some of the smartest people in the world have
looked at these ethical considerations, and even they cannot agree on a definitive answer!
What’s important is that you
take time to consider the different viewpoints and approaches before you make up your own
mind.
