A Theory of Ecological Justice

by Baxter,Brian

• ISBN13: 9780415311397
• ISBN10: 041531139X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-11-30
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

As a result of human activities, many organisms on Earth face serious and worsening threats to their continued existence. This is usually regarded as a matter of concern because maintaining a healthy non-human environment affects the well-being of humans. A Theory of Ecological Justice adopts a very different approach, defending in detail the claim that all organisms, sentient and non-sentient, have a claim in justice to a fair share of the planet's environmental resources. Baxter puts forward a detailed argument for accepting that all organisms count, morally-speaking, and not simply those which are sentient, or those which human beings like or find useful. He explores the nature of justice claims as applied to organisms of various degrees of complexity and connects the concept of ecological justice to standard liberal theories of justice, such as those found in the work of Rawls and Barry. Finally, he explores the possibilities for achieving ecological justice within current national andinternational institutional arrangements for biodiversity protection. He also seeks to vindicate a universalist approach to moral thinking against those, postmodernists and others, who favor a contextualist view. This book makes a thoroughly developed, ground-breaking case for ecological justice. It is an essential read for everyone interested in environmental politics and ethics.

Author Biography

Brian Baxter is a Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Dundee, where he teaches environmental politics and political philosophy.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	xi
1 The concept of ecological justice	1	(10)
PART I How to think about moral issues: universalist versus contextualist approaches	11	(32)
2 The case for social constructivism considered	13	(15)
3 Contextualist rather than universalist and rationalist morality?	28	(15)
PART II The case for the moral considerability of all organisms	43	(32)
4 The restriction of moral status to sentient organisms	45	(15)
5 The moral status of the non-sentient	60	(15)
PART III The case for ecological justice	75	(78)
6 The concept of ecological justice: objections and replies	77	(18)
7 Liberal theories of justice and the non-human	95	(15)
8 Ecological justice and justice as impartiality	110	(16)
9 Ecological justice and the non-sentient	126	(14)
10 Ecological justice and the sentient	140	(13)
PART IV Institutional arrangements for ecological justice	153	(42)
11 Institutional arrangements within states	155	(17)
12 Institutional arrangements at the global level	172	(17)
13 Conclusion	189	(6)
Notes	195	(2)
References	197	(5)
Index	202