ABSTRACT
Anthropology, including environmental anthropology, is a science, as also is ecology. Philosophy, including environmental ethics, analyzes issues often to make value judgments about right and wrong. Environmental ethics is a synthesis of humans and nature, with humans hoping to live well on their Earth. Environmental justice demands an equitable distribution of burdens and benefits to racial minorities, the poor, and those in developing nations. The ethical issues here typically involve who gets the benefits and who bears the costs—equity and consent issues. Ecojustice may claim to be a more inclusive ethic than environmental justice, which is mostly about people. Environmental anthropologists hope to put human and biotic communities together comprehensively. They seek sustaining communities in which people are fulfilled; beyond that, they hope to sustain the entire community of life. Ethicists may wonder whether the concept of "justice" is appropriate to trees or butterflies, preferring such terms as respecting their life, their "intrinsic value", or a "good of their own".
