ABSTRACT
The ancients left rice for mice, and did not light lamps out of pity for moths. These thoughts of theirs are the operation point of humanity in life. Wildland preservationists see that the idea of a moral community, with some beings in, and the rest out, with some beings persons and the rest mere things to be used by persons in whatever ways persons may wish, is a bogus and unethical idea. However, our modern, technological, usability oriented culture does not think of wildlands in this way. In the United States designated wilderness has recently come to be thought of as a resource. Recent attempts to further wild land preservation at the international level are characterized by this essentially homocentric thinking. Deontological reasoning about our obligations to land and people lives as the minority tradition in our technological world. Virtually every culture contributes to the progress of ethical consciousness.
