Holmes Rolston III is widely known as the “father of environmental ethics” for his relentless articulation of the presence of natural values in nature. He is also known for his work on the reconciliation of Christian theology and evolutionary biology during which he characterizes nature as “cruciform.” In 1997 he presented the Gifford Lectures in Edinburgh, and in 2003 he was awarded the Templeton Prize in London. He retired as Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy from Colorado State University in 2008 (Preston 2009).
At the start of the 1970s, several environmental thinkers including Richard Routley and Arne Naess had begun to ask whether a new type of ethic for nature was needed, one that centered not on people but on the environment itself. Answering this call, Rolston published “Is there an Ecological Ethic?” in the leading philosophy journal Ethicsin 1975. The publication of this article was thought by many to mark the birth of the field of environmental ethics....
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Maynard Smith, J., & Szathmáry, E. (1995). The major transitions in evolution. New York: W.H. Freeman.
Preston, C. J. (2009). Saving creation: Nature and faith in the life of Holmes Rolston, III. San Antonio: Trinity University Press.
Rolston, H., III. (1999). Genes, genesis, and god. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rolston, H., III. (2010). Three big bangs: Matter-energy, life, mind. New York: Columbia University Press.
Rolston, H., III. (1975). Is there an ecological ethic? Ethics: An International Journal of Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy, 85, 93–109.
Rolston, H., III. (1986). Philosophy gone wild. Buffalo: Prometheus.
Rolston, H., III. (1987). Science and religion. New York: Random House.
Rolston, H., III. (1988). Environmental ethics: Duties to and values in the natural world. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Rolston, H., III. (1995). Does aesthetics need to be science based. British Journal of Aesthetics, 35(4), 374–386.
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Preston, C.J. (2013). Environmental Ethics. In: Runehov, A.L.C., Oviedo, L. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sciences and Religions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8265-8_527
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