Abstract

Since the first days of mankind, soil has been unchanging component of the world history. Soil has been the main reason for the transition from hunting to settled life, used in the creation of dozens of tools and equipments and again it has been a reason for the wars delivering and ending world civilizations. Soil is the basic element on which man lives and depends on it. On the other hand, human beings have regarded the soil as a tool and a lifeless resource in providing food with a utilitarian mentality throughout history. In the second half of the nineteenth century, after the realization of the fact that soil resources have been damaged by the effects of human activities such as agriculture, industry and urbanization, causing irreversible degradations, mankind started to think about the ways to use the soil in a sustainable manner and also to protect it. Despite the intensive efforts of the international scientific communities and public societies, the common understanding of soil has still been limited to the sense of treating soil as a lifeless tool that must be managed to do agriculture. However, human is not a master of soil ecosystem but a member of it. Soil is a shelter of many living things creating a huge biodiversity over the planet earth and more importantly it regulates food and water cycles as well as the climate. For that reason, we have moral responsibilities towards the soil that we share with many other creatures. In this regard, soil ethics may gain us different perspectives to handle and solve global soil problems in the future. This review seeks opportunities to link soil ethics to current global soil issues to facilitate future challenges on a more sustainable life.