In Defense of the Land Ethic: Essays in Environmental PhilosophyState University of New York Press, 1989 M02 9 - 336 pages In Defense of the Land Ethic: Essays in Environmental Philosophy brings into a single volume J. Baird Callicott's decade-long effort to articulate, defend, and extend the seminal environmental philosophy of Aldo Leopold. A leading voice in this new field, Callicott sounds the depths of the proverbial iceberg, the tip of which is "The Land Ethic." "The Land Ethic," Callicott argues, is traceable to the moral psychology of David Hume and Charles Darwin's classical account of the origin and evolution of Hume's moral sentiments. Leopold adds an ecological vision of organic nature to these foundations. How can an evolutionary and ecological environmental ethic bridge the gap between is and ought? How may wholes—species, ecosystems, and the biosphere itself—be the direct objects of moral concern? How may the intrinsic value of nonhuman natural entities and nature as a whole be justified? In addition to confronting and resolving these distinctly philosophical queries, Callicott engages in lively debate with proponents of animal liberation and rights—finally to achieve an integrated theory of animal welfare and environmental ethics. He critically discusses the land ethic that is alleged to have prevailed among traditional American Indian peoples and points toward a new and equally revolutionary environmental aesthetic. |
Contents
| 15 | |
Review of Tom Regan The Case for Animal Rights | 39 |
Back | 49 |
Moral Considerability | 63 |
The Conceptual Foundations of the Land Ethic | 75 |
The Metaphysical Implications of Ecology | 101 |
A Nonanthropocentric Value Theory | 115 |
On the Intrinsic Value of Nonhuman Species | 129 |
Traditional American Indian and Western European | 177 |
Sorting Out the Issues | 203 |
Aldo Leopold on Education as Educator and His Land Ethic | 223 |
Leopolds Land Aesthetic | 239 |
Moral Considerability and Extraterrestrial Life | 249 |
Notes | 267 |
Index | 315 |
Intrinsic Value Quantum Theory and Environmental Ethics | 157 |
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Common terms and phrases
according Aldo Leopold American Indian land animal liberation animal liberation movement Animal Rights argued argument axiological Baird Callicott behavior biological biotic community classical complex concept consciousness conservation contemporary cultural Darwin discussion Earth ecological ecologists ecosystem egoism environment Environmental Ethics essay European evolution evolutionary example existence extinction extraterrestrial Goodpaster holistic human Hume Hume's Ibid implications individual inherent value integrity interests intrinsic value intrinsically valuable land aesthetic land ethic Leopold's land ethic limitations living logical mental ethics modern moral considerability moral sentiments moral standing moral theory naturalistic fallacy nonhuman natural entities nonhuman species objects Ojibwa organic paradigm persons Peter Singer philosophical physical point of view principle problem quantum theory Regan relations respect Rolston Routley Sand County Almanac sense Shepard social society soils species preservation suggest terrestrial theoretical things tion Tom Regan traditional American Indian University Press utilitarian value in nature value theory Western wildlife world view York