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83Further Adventures in the Case against RestorationEnvironmental Ethics 34 (1): 67-97. 2012.Ecological restoration has been a topic for philosophical criticism for three decades. In this essay, I present a discussion of the arguments against ecological restoration and the objections raised against my position. I have two purposes in mind: to defend my views against my critics, and to demonstrate that the debate over restoration reveals fundamental ideas about the meaning of nature, ideas that are necessary for the existence of any substantive environmentalism. I discuss the possibility…Read more
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365The Nazi Engineers: Reflections on Technological Ethics in HellScience and Engineering Ethics 17 (3): 571-582. 2011.Engineers, architects, and other technological professionals designed the genocidal death machines of the Third Reich. The death camp operations were highly efficient, so these technological professionals knew what they were doing: they were, so to speak, good engineers. As an educator at a technological university, I need to explain to my students—future engineers and architects—the motivations and ethical reasoning of the technological professionals of the Third Reich. I need to educate my stu…Read more
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18The philosophy of deep ecology originated in the 1970s with the Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess and has since spread around the world. Its basic premises are a belief in the intrinsic value of nonhuman nature, a belief that ecological principles should dictate human actions and moral evaluations, an emphasis on noninterference into natural processes, and a critique of materialism and technological progress.This book approaches deep ecology as a philosophy, not as a political, social, or environ…Read more
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5Nature, Value, Duty: Life on Earth with Holmes Rolston, III (review)Environmental Ethics 30 (1): 89-92. 2008.
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7Authenticity and Place The authenticity of place in culture and nature: thoughts on the Holocaust in the Spanish synagogue of VenicePhilosophy and Geography 5 (2). 2002.
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22Methodology in Applied Environmental Ethics: Comments on Dombrowski and FinsenBetween the Species 4 (1): 6. 1988.
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49Understanding moral limits in the duality of artifacts and nature: A reply to criticsEthics and the Environment 7 (1): 138-146. 2002.In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Ethics & the Environment 7.1 (2002) 138-146 [Access article in PDF] Understanding Moral Limits in the Duality of Artifacts and NatureA Reply to Critics Eric Katz Ned Hettinger and Wayne Ouderkirk present some cogent criticisms of my ideas in environmental ethics, especially those ideas closely associated with my attacks on the process of ecological restoration. Both trace the source of my alleged problems to a pernicious dualism of n…Read more
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3Defending the use of animals by business: Animal liberation and environmental ethicsBusiness, Ethics and the Environment: The Public Policy Debate. forthcoming.
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40A Pragmatic Reconsideration of AnthropocentrismEnvironmental Ethics 21 (4): 377-390. 1999.For much of its brief history, the field of environmental ethics has been critical of anthropocentrism. I here undertake a pragmatic reconsideration of anthropocentrism. In the first part of this essay, I explain what a pragmatic reconsideration of anthropocentrism means. I differentiate two distinct pragmatic strategies, one substantive and one methodological, and I adopt methodological pragmatism as my guiding principle. In the second part of this essay, I examine a case study of environmental…Read more
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2Nature by Design: People, Natural Process, and Ecological Restoration (review)Environmental Ethics 29 (2): 213-216. 2007.
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94Geoengineering, Restoration, and the Construction of NatureEnvironmental Ethics 37 (4): 485-498. 2015.An old book by children’s author Dr. Seuss can be an inspiration to examine the ethical and ontological meaning of geoengineering. My argument is based on my critique of the process of ecological restoration as the creation of an artifactual reality. When humanity intentionally interferes with the processes and entities of nature, we change the ontological reality of the natural world. The world becomes a garden, or a zoo, an environment that must be continually managed to meet the goals of huma…Read more
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55Organism, community, and the "substitution problem"Environmental Ethics 7 (3): 241-256. 1985.Holistic accounts of the natural environment in environmental ethics fail to stress the distinction between the concepts of comnlunity and organism. Aldo Leopold’s “Land Ethic” adds to this confusion, for it can be interpreted as promoting either a community or an organic model of nature. The difference between the two concepts lies in the degree of autonomy possessed by constituent entities within the holistic system. Members within a community are autonomous, while the parts of an organism are…Read more
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61Anne Frank's Tree: Thoughts on Domination and the Paradox of ProgressEthics, Place and Environment 13 (3): 283-293. 2010.Consider the significance of Anne Frank's horse chestnut tree. During her years of hiding in the secret annex, Anne thought of the tree as a symbol of freedom, happiness, and peace. As a stand-in for all of Nature, Anne saw the tree as that part of the universe that could not be destroyed by human evil. In this essay, I use Anne's tree as a starting point for a discussion of the domination of both nature and humanity. I connect the concept of domination to the policy of ecological restoration, t…Read more
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26Nature and Nationalism: Right-Wing Ecology and the Politics of Identity in Contemporary Germany, Jonathan Olsen , 208 pp., $45 cloth (review)Ethics and International Affairs 15 (1): 219-222. 2001.
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62Is There a Place for Animals in the Moral Consideration of NatureEnvironmental Ethics. An Anthology. forthcoming.
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10Understanding Moral Limits in the Duality of Artifacts and Nature: A Reply to CriticsEthics and the Environment 7 (1): 138-146. 2002.In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Ethics & the Environment 7.1 (2002) 138-146 [Access article in PDF] Understanding Moral Limits in the Duality of Artifacts and NatureA Reply to Critics Eric Katz Ned Hettinger and Wayne Ouderkirk present some cogent criticisms of my ideas in environmental ethics, especially those ideas closely associated with my attacks on the process of ecological restoration. Both trace the source of my alleged problems to a pernicious dualism of n…Read more
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83Envisioning a De-Anthropocentrised World: Critical Comments on Anthony Weston's 'The Incompleat Eco-Philosopher'Ethics, Policy and Environment 14 (1): 97-101. 2011.Weston and I will be forever linked in the field of environmental philosophy because of an exchange of essays that were published in the journal Environmental Ethics in 1985 and 1987 on the subject...
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25The Liberation of Humanity and NatureEnvironmental Values 11 (4): 397-405. 2002.What does the ' liberation ' of nature mean? In this essay, I use a pragmatic methodology to reject the idea that we need a metaphysical understanding of the nature of nature before we can speak of nature's liberation, and explain the sense of liberation as being the continuation of human non-interference in natural processes. Two real life policy cases are cited as examples: beach restoration on Fire Island and rock climbing in designated wilderness areas
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31Svein Anders Noer Lie, Philosophy of Nature: Rethinking NaturalnessEnvironmental Values 26 (1): 111-113. 2017.
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32Naturalness: Is the “Natural” Preferable to the “Artificial”?Environmental Ethics 38 (2): 241-244. 2016.
Newark, New Jersey, United States of America
Areas of Interest
Applied Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |