Environmental Ethics

by Rolston, Holmes

• ISBN13: 9780877225010
• ISBN10: 087722501X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1987-12-14
• Publisher: Temple Univ Pr

Summary

Environmental Ethics is a systematic account of values carried by the natural world, coupled with an inquiry into duties toward animals, plants, species, and ecosystems. A comprehensive philosophy of nature is illustrated by and integrated with numerous actual examples of ethical decisions made in encounters with fauna and flora, endangered species, and threatened ecosystems. The ethics developed is informed throughout by ecological science and evolutionary biology, with attention to the logic of moving from what is in nature to what ought to be.The ethical theory is applied in detail to social, public, and business policy. Written in an engaging style, using diagrams and figures as well as numerous case studies, Environmental Ethics prods the reader into concrete application and invites reader participation in the ethical discussions. The ethics concludes by exploring the historical experiences of personal residence in a surrounding environment. Here is an adventure into what it means to live as responsible human beings in the community of life on Earth. Author note: Holmes Rolston, III, is Professor of Philosophy at Colorado State University and the author of Science and Religion: A Critical Survey (Temple).

Table of Contents

Preface1. Humans Valuing the Natural EnvironmentValues Carried by Nature -Value Ownership -Following Nature>p>2. Higher Animals: Duties to Sentient LifeNatural Rights, Goods, Interests -Human Dominion over Animals -Domestic and Hunted Animals>p>3. Organisms: Duties to Organic LifeObjective Value in Organisms -Objective Life versus Subjective Life -Human Interests and Organismic Values>p>4. Life in Jeopardy: Duties to Endangered SpeciesDuties to Persons Concerning Species -Specific Forms of Life -Duties to Species -Individuals and Species -Species and Ecosystem -An Endangered Ethic?>p>5. Life in Community: Duties to EcosystemsCooperation and Struggle -Centered and Loose Organization -Succession and Natural History -Individuals in Communities -Intrinsic, Instrumental, and Systemic Values -Subjective Experience and Evolutionary Ecosystems>p>6. The Concept of Natural Value: A Theory for Environmental EthicsValuing Projective Nature -Valuing in Ecosystems -Valuing Aesthetic Nature>p>7. Environmental Policy: An Ethic of the CommonsCollective Choice in an Environmental Ethic -A Value Analysis for Environmental Policy -Environmental Principles and Strategies>p>8. Environmental Business: An Ethic for CommerceBusiness and a Humanist Environmental Ethic -Business and a Naturalistic Environmental Ethic -Ethical Complexities in Business and Environmental Concerns -Business and Nature>p>9. Down to Earth: Persons in Natural HistoryHumans Resident in Nature and Culture -Humans as Moral Overseers on Earth -Storied Residence on Earth>p>NotesSelected BibliographyIndex