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30Ecological FreedomEnvironmental Philosophy 16 (2): 245-273. 2019.This article develops the idea of ‘ecological freedom’ from Aldo Leopold’s account of ecological relations in terms of the dual notions of the “freedom from want and fear” and the “freedom to make mistakes.” Through an analysis of Leopold’s thought on technology and civilization, I develop and argue for the claim that direct experience of ecological relations, or ecological freedom, is vital to meaningful human life. The absence of ecological freedom constitutes a form of ecological alienation, …Read more
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11Cultural Revolutions (review)Newsletter of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy 34 (105): 37-39. 2006.
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45Value as Practice and the Practice of ValueEnvironmental Ethics 32 (3): 285-304. 2010.John Dewey’s theory of value provides a strong alternative to traditional intrinsic value theory that can better address the need for a wide distribution of environmental values. Grounded in his theories of experience and inquiry, Dewey understands values as concrete practices acquired through the interaction of the human organism with its surroundings. Dividing value into acts of immediate valuation and acts of evaluation, Dewey shows that all values start out as desires and through reflective …Read more
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81World and Earth: Hannah Arendt and the Human Relationship to NatureEthics, Place and Environment 12 (1): 1-16. 2009.In place of traditional approaches in environmental ethics, I suggest an improved approach, with respect to the goal of improving the condition of the natural environment, called 'world mediation' through the use of Hannah Arendt's theory of the vita activa . This approach focuses on the relationship between human made worlds and nature, from which a theory of value is suggested. Intrinsic value theory and nature-culture monism are both criticized for an insufficient attention paid toward the hu…Read more
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20Aesthetic Experience and Experiential Unity in Leopold’s Conservation PhilosophyEnvironmental Philosophy 10 (2): 23-52. 2013.In this paper, I address the motivation gap that prevents many people from acquiring and activating environmental values. In the face of this gap, I analyze Aldo Leopold’s conservation philosophy as a potential solution. This is done by reading Leopold through John Dewey’s theory of aesthetic experience, in which motivated action develops out of unified aesthetic experience made up of three phases: action, emotion, and intelligence. Showing that Leopold’s approach to conservation exhibits this a…Read more
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54Moral Pluralism, Moral Motivation, and Democracy: A Critique of Talisse’s Epistemic Justification of DemocracyContemporary Pragmatism 8 (2): 145-162. 2011.In Democracy and Moral Conflict, Robert Talisse defends a folk epistemological justification of democracy. This is a universalist and non-moral justification that he deems necessary to accommodate moral pluralism. In contrast, I argue that this attempt fails to justify democracy, on three grounds. First, democracy cannot accommodate moral pluralism, as Talisse understands it. Second, Talisse's own conception of democracy is inconsistent with moral pluralism. And third, democracy requires moral j…Read more
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