Restoring Environmental Virtue Ethics To Promote Sustainability: An Ecocritical Analysis From An Ethical Perspective In Ruth Ozeki's "My Year Of Meats

Abstract

This qualitative study investigates how the unethical utility of man causes environmental deterioration through the fictional work, "My Year of Meats" by Ruth Ozeki where she explores the unprincipled act of injecting chemicals into the meat in slaughterhouses and the consequences of ill effects on human health. The finding of the analysis asserts that everything is being commercialized in the food industry using terms like "healthy", "fertility" and "quality" which are only assertions to conceal the true ethical commitment of man. Hence there is an urgent necessity to reestablish strong ethical frameworks among human beings towards the environment and its entities, emphasizing sustainability practices. This study explores the need to adhere to one such ethic, 'environmental virtue ethics', for addressing environmental degradation. When human beings treat the environment with virtues like humility, care, and compassion, there is hope for a better future for the generations that follow, thereby creating a harmonious existence with nature.