Abstract
Most writing on environmental ethics concerns the dichotomy between humans and non-humans, and much of the work in the field has been motivated by the effort to escape #x201C;anthropocentrism#x201D; with respect to environmental values. Resulting debates about whether to extend #x201C;moral considerability#x201D; to various elements of non-human nature have been, to say the least, inconclusive. In this paper, a new approach to re-conceptualizing our responsibilities toward nature is proposed, an approach that begins with a re-examination of spatio-temporal scaling in the conceptualization of environmental problems and human responses to them.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Callicott, J.B. 2002. The pragmatic power and promise of theoretical environmental ethics. Environmental Values 11: 3–25.
Funtowicz, S., and J.R. Ravetz. 1990. Uncertainty and quality in science for policy. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Funtowicz, S., and J.R. Ravetz. 1995. Science for a post-normal age. In Perspectives on ecological integrity, eds. L. Westra and J. Lemons, 146–161. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Hajer, M.A. 1995. The politics of environmental discourse: Ecological modernization and the policy process. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Holling, C.S. 1978. Adaptive environmental assessment and management. London: Wiley.
Horton, T. 1987. Bay country. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Kauffman, S. 1995. At home in the universe. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.
Leopold, A. 1949. A Sand County almanac and sketches here and there. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Norton, B.G. 2005. Sustainability: A philosophy of adaptive ecosystem management. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Norton, B.G. 2008. Beyond positivist ecology: Toward an integrated ecological ethics. Science and Engineering Ethics 14: 581–592.
Norton, B.G. 2009. Convergence and divergence: The convergence hypothesis twenty years later. In Nature in common, ed. B. Minteer, 235–260. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Norton, B.G., and D.S. Noonan. 2007. Ecology and valuation: Big changes needed. Ecological Economics 64: 664–675.
Rittel, H.W.J., and M.M. Webber. 1973. Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy Sciences 4: 155–169.
Robinson, J.B. (ed.). 1996. Life in 2030. Exploring a sustainable future for Canada. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.
Sagoff, M. 2004. Price, principle, and the environment. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press.
Williams, B.A.O. 1985. Ethics and the limits of philosophy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wright, S. 1932. The roles of mutation, inbreeding, crossbreeding and selection in evolution. In Proceedings of the sixth international congress on genetics, ed. D.F. Jones, 2 vols., vol. 1, 356–366. New York: Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Norton, B.G. (2012). Facts, Values, and Analogies: A Darwinian Approach to Environmental Choice. In: Bergandi, D. (eds) The Structural Links between Ecology, Evolution and Ethics. Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, vol 296. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5067-8_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5067-8_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-5066-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-5067-8
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPhilosophy and Religion (R0)