The question of highest and best good can be tricky in complex situations. And everything in the physical world tends to be tricky. I think about this when I have to choose between two ways of looking at highest and best good.

For example, slugs are invading my garden as I write this. When I ask the question of highest and best good for the system, what do I include? There’s me, of course. I want to include the plants and the food I’ll get from them. There are all the other animals and insects that are part of the garden ecology. And then there are the slugs.

Getting rid of the slugs is best for my garden and me, but probably not best for the slugs. For those of you who don’t know, slugs are migratory. In other words, if I move them away from the garden, there’s a good chance they will come back. They also hide really well Continue reading and add your comment →