Vol. XXXVIII / 1 - Studia Moralia

226 HANS J. MÜNK
obligation to protect the non-human spheres of life and the
Creation. The magnitude of the task necessitates an element of
political-legal protection and legitimates it (legitimating
function).
5.2 Orientation:
Insofar as such ethical standards influence legislation and
administration, they contribute to the orientation of politicalsocial
action (orientation function).
5.3 Interpretation, Concretion, Operationalization:
Implementing the model of sustainable development
requires comprehensive interpretation and specification, as
previous studies have very clearly shown. 15 This entails
numerous weighing and balancing processes in specific areas,
each of which must be ethically sound. The effort and
achievement overall must also be in keeping with the ethical
significance of the task as a whole. Ethical challenges are also
likely to present themselves in the evaluation and solution of
partial problems confronted in the state’s task of working
toward “sustainable development”, for instance in the
identification and assessment of risks. The principles of justice
stipulate that no future generation may be required to tolerate a
condition we ourselves are not willing to accept (interpretation,
concretion, operationalization function).
5.4 Implementation, Motivation:
Ethics can act as a motivating and fortifying factor in the
development of an ethos of acceptance and participation in the
sense of an ”ethos of sustainability” 16 (implementation,
motivation function).
15
Cf. Friends of the Earth Europe (ed.), Towards Sustainable Europe
(Bruxelles 1995). Smith, P./Tenner, A. ”Dimensions of Sustainability”,
Proceedings of the Congress‚ Challenges of Sustainable Development‘.
Amsterdam, 22nd-25th August 1996 (Baden-Baden: Nomos 1997).
Umweltbundesamt, Nachhaltiges Deutschland. Wege zu einer dauerhaftumweltgerechten
Entwicklung (Berlin: Erich Schmidt, 1997).
16
Cf. Der Rat der Sachverständigen für Umweltfragen, Umweltgutachten
1994, pp. 156-159.