A New Environmental Ethics: The Next Millennium for Life on Earth

by Rolston III; Holmes

• ISBN13: 9780415884839
• ISBN10: 0415884837
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-09-20
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Over the last three decades, the field of environmental ethics has branched out into a multitude of directions. Changing understandings of what constitutes an object of moral concern (only humans? all sentient creatures? ecosystems? the earth?), an evolving understanding of the diverse ways humans relate to their environment (as individuals, as corporations, as nation-states), and entirely new environmental concerns (global warming, environmental justice) have forced the field to adapt and expand. The result has been a more urgent and comprehensive ethics, increasingly complex in its inclusiveness. In this book, Holmes Rolston III#xE2;#xAC;#x1D;one of the early and leading pioneers of the field#xE2;#xAC;#x1D;examines what environmental ethics has become on the current world agenda. But while Rolston#xE2;#xAC;"s short book surveys the full spectrum of approaches, his is not simply a judicious overview. Instead, A New Environmental Ethics: The Next Millennium for Life on Earthoffers critical assessments of contemporary academic accounts and draws on a lifetime of research and experience to suggest an outlook for the future. As a result, this focused, forward-looking analysis will be a necessary complement to any balanced textbook or anthology in environmental ethics.