Abstract
Ethics is a field in philosophy that focuses on explaining and defending judgments about right and wrong conduct. Ethicists use the method of ethical inquiry to examine value judgments critically, clarifying them and resolving conflicts among them. This chapter takes a brief tour of metaethics to orient us before delving into more specific questions about how to answer questions about environmental values. The chapter concludes with an introduction to environmental ethics, which addresses the need for and general outlines of an ethic that recognizes the value of nonhuman nature and our duties toward it.
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Notes
- 1.
The concepts of intrinsic and instrumental value are discussed further in Sect. 4.2.1.
Further Reading
Anthony, C.: Reflections on the purposes and meanings African American environmental history. In: Glave, D., Stoll, M. (eds.) To Love the Wind and the Rain: African Americans and Environmental History. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh (2006)
Brennan, A., Lo, Y.S.: Understanding Environmental Philosophy. Acumen Publishing, Durham (2010)
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Jamieson, D.: Ethics and the Environment: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2008)
Kheel, M.: Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham (2008)
Leopold, A., Sand County, A.: Almanac with Essays on Conservation from Round River. Ballantine Books, New York (1966)
Light, A., Katz, E. (eds.): Environmental Pragmatism. Routledge, New York (1996)
Pojman, L.: Ethics: Discovering Right and Wrong, 4th edn. Wadsworth, Belmont, CA (2002)
Murphy, J.: Santeria: An African Religion in America. Beacon Hill Press, Boston (1988)
Taylor, P.: Respect for Nature. Princeton University Press, Princeton (1986)
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Smith, K.K. (2018). Why Study Environmental Ethics?. In: Exploring Environmental Ethics. AESS Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies and Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77395-7_2
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