Cultivating an Ethic of Environmental Sustainability: Integrating Insights from Aristotelian Virtue Ethics and Pragmatist Cognitive Development Theory

Abstract

Despite increased attention for environmental sustainability programming, large-scale adoption of pro-environmental behaviors has been slow and largely short-term. This article analyzes the crucial role of ethics in this respect. The authors utilize an interdisciplinary approach drawing on virtue ethics and cognitive development theory to construct an ethic of environmental sustainability and discuss its implementation in higher education. A meta-review of research on sustainability initiatives indicates that long-term adoption of pro-environmental behaviors requires the cultivation of sustainable persons. The authors argue that colleges and universities have a unique ability to cultivate sustainable persons through practices and policies that embody a sustainable campus.