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Intuitive Level System Rules: Commentary on “Utilitarianism and the Evolution of Ecological Ethics”

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Notes

  1. Intuitive level system (ILS) rules are practical moral norms developed by societies for agents to follow more or less unreflectively. When they are the result of critical reflection, ILS rules recommend actions that promote the greater good of the whole.

  2. Personal correspondence with John M. Carley, Program Analyst, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Pesticide Programs, 11/2007. Carley notes that since EPA’s promulgation of the rule in February 2006 “the controversy has largely died down … and no proposals for new research involving intentional exposure of human subjects to pesticides to identify or quantify toxic endpoints have been submitted to the agency for several years.”

  3. After the re-registration process was begun prior to 1992, some 5,000 pesticides in use at the time of cancellation were dropped [4].

References

  1. Varner, G. (2008). Utilitarianism and the evolution of ecological ethics. Science and Engineering Ethics, 14(4).

  2. Oleskey, C., Fleischman, A., Goldman, L., Hirschhorn, K., Landrigan, P. J., Lappé, M., et al. (2004). Pesticide testing in humans: Ethics and public policy. Environmental Health Perspectives, 112(8), 914–919. http://www.ehponline.org/members/2004/6522/6522.html. Accessed 18 Feb 2008.

  3. Bischoff, R. F. (1993). Pesticide chemicals: An industry perspective on minor crop uses. In J. Janick & J. E. Simon (Eds.), New crops (pp. 662–664). New York: Wiley.

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  4. Ginaessi, L., & Puffer, C. A. (1992). Reregistration of minor use pesticides: Some observations and implications. Situation and Outlook Report: Agricultural Resources. www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3730/is_n25/ai_12134251. Accessed 18 Feb 2008.

  5. Hare, R. M. (1981). Moral thinking: Its levels, methods and point. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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  1. National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park, 7 Alexander Drive, PO Box 12256, Durham, NC, 27709-2256, USA

    Gary Comstock

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  1. Gary Comstock
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Correspondence to Gary Comstock.

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Comstock, G. Intuitive Level System Rules: Commentary on “Utilitarianism and the Evolution of Ecological Ethics”. Sci Eng Ethics 14, 575–579 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-008-9096-z

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