-
38Buffalo-Killing and the Valuation of SpeciesBowling Green Studies in Applied Philosophy 8 114-123. 1986.
-
53Searching for Intrinsic ValueEnvironmental Ethics 9 (3): 231-241. 1987.Anthony Weston has criticized the place of “inttinsic value” in the development of an environmental ethic, and he has urged a “pragmatic shift” toward a plurality of values based on human desires and experiences. I argue that Weston is mistaken for two reasons: (1) his view of the methodology of environmental ethics is distorted: the intrinsic value of natural entities is not the ground of all moral obligations regarding the environment; and (2) his pragmatic theory of value is too anthropocentr…Read more
-
28Artefacts and Functions: A Note on the Value of NatureEnvironmental Values 2 (3): 223-232. 1993.This paper examines and compares the ontological and axiological character of artefacts – human creations – with nonhuman natural entities. The essential difference between artefacts and natural entities is that the former are always the result of human intention and design, while the latter are independent of human purpose. Artefacts have functions ; natural entities do not. The connection to human intentional purpose implies a different kind of value for artefacts. Artefacts are evaluated sole…Read more
-
35Nature, Value, Duty: Life on Earth with Holmes Rolston, IIIEnvironmental Ethics 30 (1): 89-92. 2008.
-
59Moving beyond Anthropocentrism: Environmental Ethics, Development, and the AmazonEnvironmental Ethics 15 (1): 49-59. 1993.We argue for the rejection of an anthropocentric and instrumental system of normative ethics. Moral arguments for the preservation of the environment cannot be based on the promotion of human interests or goods. The failure of anthropocentric arguments is exemplified by the dilemma of Third World development policy, e.g., the controversy over the preservation of the Amazon rain forest. Considerationsof both utility and justice preclude a solution to the problems of Third World development from t…Read more
-
16Holmes Rolston, III, Three Big Bangs: Matter-Energy, Life, Mind (review)Environmental Ethics 34 (3): 313-316. 2012.
-
13Utilitarianism and PreservationEnvironmental Ethics 1 (4): 357-364. 1979.In “The Concept of the Irreplaceable,” John N. Martin claims that utilitarian arguments can explain the environmentalist position concerning the preservation of natural objects as long as human attitudes toward preservation are considered along with the direct benefits of environmental preservation. But this type of utilitarian justification is biased in favor of the satisfaction of human preferences. No ethical theory which calculates goodness in terms of the amount of human satisfaction can pr…Read more
-
14Dale Jamieson: Reason in a Dark Time: Why the Struggle against Climate Change Failed—And What It Means for Our FutureEnvironmental Ethics 37 (2): 255-256. 2015.
-
59The Call of the Wild: The Struggle against Domination and the Technological Fix of NatureEnvironmental Ethics 14 (3): 265-273. 1992.In this essay, I use encounters with the white-tailed deer of Fire Island to explore the “call of the wild”—the attraction to value that exists in a natural world outside of human control. Value exists in nature to the extent that it avoids modification by human technology. Technology “fixes” the natural world by improving it for human use or by restoring degraded ecosystems. Technology creates a “new world,” an artifactual reality that is far removed from the “wildness” of nature. The technolog…Read more
-
125A 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
-
38Preserving the distinction between nature and artifactIn Gregory E. Kaebnick (ed.), The Ideal of Nature: Debates About Biotechnology and the Environment, Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 71. 2011.
-
38Nature by design: People, natural process, and ecological restorationEnvironmental Ethics 29 (2): 213-216. 2007.
Newark, New Jersey, United States of America
Areas of Interest
Applied Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |