SCO101: Why Do Good? Progress Report - Amazon Wildfires Analysis

This report, submitted for the SCO101 "Why Do Good?" course, examines the ethical dimensions of the Amazon rainforest wildfires. It highlights the devastating impact of deforestation on the environment, animals, and indigenous communities. The student explores the ethical considerations, focusing on the consequences of human actions and the application of utilitarianism. The report argues that deforestation is unethical due to the resulting unhappiness and advocates for strict laws and alternative solutions for farmers. The student references relevant sources to support their analysis and concludes by emphasizing the importance of doing good to promote a peaceful and happy life for all. The report emphasizes that deforestation is unethical because it causes more unhappiness and calls for laws to prevent it and also provide alternatives for farmers. This report presents a comprehensive analysis of the ethical implications of the Amazon rainforest wildfires and suggests ways to mitigate the damage caused by deforestation. The student references multiple sources to support their arguments and concludes by emphasizing the importance of doing good to create a happy life for all.

Running head: WHY DO GOOD?
WHY DO GOOD?
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1WHY DO GOOD?
Climate change has become a detrimental environmental issue which has become a
global concern in recent times because of the negative impacts it has been having on the
environment and has slowly started to affect the human beings. This paper is going to focus
on the Amazon rainforest wildfires which have become a global concern and focus on the
ethical considerations and state why do good in this issue.
The Amazon rainforest wildfire has become a global concern as there were thousands
of fire that was burning all across the southern part of the Amazon in January 2019 and
continued till October damaging almost 7,747 sq. km of the forest (BBC News., 2019).
Usually the forest does catch fire during the dry seasons however according to
environmentalists and the news, the main reason for the fire was deforestation where farmers
were cleaning land for farming (Nationalgeographic.com., 2019). The Amazon rainforest
wildfire raises the question of ethical practice as this deforestation had created a lot of
damage to the environment and many living beings. Due to this wildfire several animals had
lost their homes, lost their lives and the land was also destroyed. Not only the animals but the
Amazon rainforest were home to near about one million Indians who are tribes and in
because of the practice of deforestation they lost their lands and also many lives.
Many people provided support and donated for the protection of the rainforests, many
activists and environmentalists voiced out their opinion and according to me we should good
and work towards saving the Amazon rainforest from deforestation to protect the
environment. Doing good does not only mean donating money to help overcome the
particular incident however I believe that it is our responsibility to protect the rainforest and
appeal to the government to come up with strict laws against this massive destruction of
nature. According to Utilitarianism, the actions can be labeled to be good and bad only based
on the consequences and it focuses on creating utmost happiness to majority of the people
(Piacquadio, 2017). It can be seen that the devastating fire was caused because of manmade

2WHY DO GOOD?
activities which had created a huge negative impact not only on the environment by
increasing climate change but to the animals and tribes living there as well which had caused
pain rather than happiness. This has caused more unhappiness and thus deforestation for own
benefits is highly unethical and one should consider and think about the consequences.
However, it can be seen that there can be one limitation when aligned with this theory
which is that if deforestation is banned it might affect the farmers and can hinder their work
which can lead them to live in adverse situations and even in poverty which also goes against
the theory of utilitarianism.
It is important to come up with a solution which benefits everyone and does not
become difficult for any person. The basic rights of people is to lead a happy life without any
poor conditions and it can be seen that this incident had shattered the lives of many and thus,
it is important to consider and come up with laws which prohibit deforestation and also come
up with suitable alternatives for the farmers to carry on the work. Thus, we should do good to
make people happy and help them leading a peaceful and a good life.

3WHY DO GOOD?
Reference
BBC News. (2019). What's the latest with the fires in Brazil?. Retrieved 10 February 2020,
from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49971563
Nationalgeographic.com. (2019). See how much of the Amazon is burning, how it compares
to other years. Retrieved 10 February 2020, from
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/08/amazon-fires-cause-
deforestation-graphic-map/
Piacquadio, P. G. (2017). A fairness justification of utilitarianism. Econometrica, 85(4),
1261-1276.