Valuing Water

This chapter presents some central moral theories and differing worldviews as they relate to a particular case study in the authors’ home country – Canada’s boil water advisories. It may appear shocking to readers that a highly developed country still supports communities that rely on unsafe water that must be boiled before use. The chapter describes how this is the case and presents multiple perspectives – including the utilitarian, deontological, Indigenous, postmodern, and ecofeminist – relating to the ethics of boil water advisories. The argument is made that environmental decision making proceeds on the strength of both explicit as well as implicit value judgments. A new role for philosophers is proposed, requiring them to work in interdisciplinary settings with multiple communities as the water crisis advances and as conflicting, taken-for-granted assumptions and moral values require resolution.