Ethical Foundations of the Sustainability and the Sustainable Development

The concept of sustainability or sustainable development emerged as a concern in early \n1980’s. It was equated with the environmental issues firstly. Then, it attained economic and \nsocial meanings as well. Nevertheless, the value of the lastly attained meaning of \nsustainability, which is social, is highly neglected. Sustainable development or sustainability \nis not just about ecology or natural resources. It is about the relationship between these \nresources and individuals and thus sustainability encompasses all kinds of issues related to \nhuman beings as sustainable, i.e ecological development, cannot be imagined without human \nbeings living in it. \nIn this study, sustainability will be evaluated as a value system that highlights the importance \nof continuation of natural as well as cultural resources. Although the term sustainability or \nsustainable development became famous in late 20th century, as a value system, its existence \nmay be traced back to the ancient Greece. In the writings of early political philosophers, it is \npossible to find the emphasis on the importance of nature, reproduction, importance of future \ngenerations, significance of continuation of cultures and human kind, which are the core \nintentions behind the need for sustainable development and the term sustainability embraces \nall of these subjects. In the context of this study, the writings of Aristotle, Kant, Mill, will be \nanalyzed with an aim of finding the foundations of the concept of sustainability