Toward An Ethics of Reciprocity: Ethnobotanical Knowledge and Medicinal Plants as Cancer Therapies

Abstract

This article develops a reciprocity ethics of the environment through a discussion of ethnobotanical medicines used in the treatment of cancer. The moral virtue of reciprocity, defined as the returning of good when good is received or anticipated, is central to the posthumanist rethinking of human relationships to the plant world. As herbal medicines are used progressively more around the globe and as plant diversity decreases as a result of habitat loss and climate change, an ethics of reciprocity should be a concern for environmental philosophers and conservationists. Aldo Leopold's land ethic and J. Baird Callicott's distinction between deontological and prudential environmental ethics provide theoretical contexts for the development of a reciprocity ethics vis-à-vis ethnobotanical species. While this article does not necessarily specify modes or forms of reciprocity, it does outline some of the more prominent ethnobotanical species used in the treatment of cancer, including those from Native American, African, Chinese, and Indian traditions. In the form of a dialogue between the fields of ethnobotany, herbal medicine, and environmental philosophy, this article presents a position from which further articulations of reciprocity can be developed, particularly those involving the rights of indigenous cultures and plants.

Moral Reciprocity, Ethics of Appropriation of Indigenous Medicinal Plant Knowledge and Associated Biopiracy

“…TK has long been the basis of several successful drug discovery and development endeavors by many pharmaceutical companies over the past several decades (Mondal et al, 2012). Over the last few decades, the marked increase in global consumerism habits that have often become synonymous with environmental damage, have undergone a paradigm shift in the form of a sort of moral reciprocity (Ryan, 2014). This "environmental renaissance" as described by Ryan (2014) is one where humans are recognizing the implications of their accelerated resource consumption on their immediate environment and on the planet as a whole.…”

“…Over the last few decades, the marked increase in global consumerism habits that have often become synonymous with environmental damage, have undergone a paradigm shift in the form of a sort of moral reciprocity (Ryan, 2014). This "environmental renaissance" as described by Ryan (2014) is one where humans are recognizing the implications of their accelerated resource consumption on their immediate environment and on the planet as a whole. Events such as climate change, the rising global temperature and pollution of land and water bodies to name few, makes it more evident that we are leaving scars on the planet, slowly killing it and ironically, ourselves in the process (Climate Change: Vital Sings of the Planet, 2018).…”

“…Events such as climate change, the rising global temperature and pollution of land and water bodies to name few, makes it more evident that we are leaving scars on the planet, slowly killing it and ironically, ourselves in the process (Climate Change: Vital Sings of the Planet, 2018). This "renaissance" has led to the development of a posthumanist relationship to the environment, and as described by Ryan (2014), "one where the environment is viewed as an active and creative agent to be worked with rather than as a material, substance or sight to be worked over." The author describes this attitude towards planetary health as a "moral virtue" and an essential reciprocal relationship that has huge and direct implications on our health and lifestyles (Ryan, 2014).…”

“…This "renaissance" has led to the development of a posthumanist relationship to the environment, and as described by Ryan (2014), "one where the environment is viewed as an active and creative agent to be worked with rather than as a material, substance or sight to be worked over." The author describes this attitude towards planetary health as a "moral virtue" and an essential reciprocal relationship that has huge and direct implications on our health and lifestyles (Ryan, 2014). Unfortunately, the realization of just how essential this relationship is, has come retrospectively now that we are observing the tangible and fatal effects of climate change.…”

“…Our current developmental trajectory as a species is highly reliant on our environment's capacity to provide many of the necessities of modern societies and its many components (such as healthcare systems) and thus reciprocity ethics must become norm when undertaking projects or making policies that have environmental consequences. An ideal symbiotic situation is one where the environment is the platform for human development and that ethnobotanical knowledge, along with cooperation from indigenous/local communities, can be the medium through which modern medicine can benefit from the environment and its natural products while simultaneously giving back to the environment in the form of support for local communities/stakeholders that would otherwise be exploited (Ryan, 2014). Many modern medications on the pharmaceutical market are a result of semisynthetic synthesis of a potent yet difficult to amass compound found in a plant.…”