The Ethical Dimension of Environmental Problems Uncovering Indigenous Environmental Knowledge for Modern Environmental Ethics

Abstract

The study explored the value of indigenous environmental knowledge for modern environmental ethics. The study principally relied on analysis and reflection of secondary sources. Hitherto, much scholarly discourse has resorted toward science and technology to form the key for seeking remedy for environmental risks and problems.This trend, however, has recently been challenged and critiqued by environmental philosophers. The article, therefore, attempted to open up a new vista of environmental stewardship from the view point of ethical philosophy. For much of human history, indigenous knowledge had been denigrated as backward and antithetical for science and progressive ideas. However, it has recently received considerable attention among academicians to challenge and even to uproot the orthodox view that put emphasis onscience and technology as the only category through which we come to understand humanity and the natural environment. Hence, this study revealed that indigenous environmental knowledge, such as the Oromo, play a pivotal role in providing valuable insight into and wisdom about environmental stewardship and a holistic conception ofnature. The study concluded that the synthesis of indigenous environmental knowledge and modern environmental perspective would enrich our understanding of the underlying causes and remedy for environmental problems more effectively than each of them doesdiscretely.