Abstract

D'ENTREMONT, Alban. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND THE FAMILY. pers.bioét. [online]. 2007, vol.11, n.1, pp.9-22. ISSN 0123-3122.

The concept of sustainable development refers to the need of human societies to harmonize their economic, social and demographic development with available resources and to preserve the physical environment in order to provide a better living standard for future generations. Unfortunately, that concept is often construed with the false idea that in order to achieve this harmonized and durable development, especially in the Third World countries, it is necessary to reduce the birth rates of these populations, with no respect for ethical norms or the inherent dignity of the human person. The defenders of this idea often attempt against those values that are inherent to society, including proposals that lead to the disintegration of the family as the natural institution whose essence is not subject to whims or passingfads, not even to the nobler objective of producing a better world for our children. In this paper, apart from underlining the basic and unalienable characteristics that make up the family as a natural institution that must be defended at all costs, the author proposes to show that attempts at demographic control are not only intrinsically unethical, but also not feasible in practice since they will not lead to the sustainable development of the world, but on the contrary produce negative effects that will give rise to a de-humanized society. A proposal is made in favor of the correct application of the concept of sustainable development including the eradication of structural injustices in the world and of misery in the poorer nations, and the defense of the human person and society on the basis of the promotion of the natural family as a key element in any true and effective development process.

Keywords : Demography; human dignity; ethics; family, development; malthusianism; marriage; environment; society.

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