This is Environmental Ethics: An Introduction

Wendy Lynne Lee, Steven D. Hales

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781119122708
• eBook ISBN: 9781119122722
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Ethics & Moral Philosophy

Provides students and scholars with a comprehensive introduction to the growing field of environmental philosophy and ethics

Mitigating the effects of climate change will require global cooperation and lasting commitment. Of the many disciplines addressing the ecological crisis, philosophy is perhaps best suited to develop the conceptual foundations of a viable and sustainable environmental ethic. This is Environmental Ethics provides an expansive overview of the key theories underpinning contemporary discussions of our moral responsibilities to non-human nature and living creatures.

Adopting a critical approach, author Wendy Lynne Lee closely examines major moral theories to discern which ethic provides the compass needed to navigate the social, political, and economic challenges of potentially catastrophic environmental transformation, not only, but especially the climate crisis. Lee argues that the ethic ultimately adopted must make the welfare of non-human animals and plant life a priority in our moral decision-making, recognizing that ecological conditions form the existential conditions of all life on the planet. Throughout the text, detailed yet accessible chapters demonstrate why philosophy is relevant and useful in the face of an uncertain environmental future.

• Questions which environmental theory might best address the environmental challenges of climate change and the potential for recurring pandemic
• Discusses how inequalities of race, sex, gender, economic status, geography, and species impact our understanding of environmental dilemmas
• Explores the role of moral principles in making decisions to resolve real-world dilemmas
• Incorporates extensive critiques of moral extensionist and ecocentric arguments
• Introduces cutting-edge work done by radical "deep green" writers, animal rights theorists, eco-phenomenologists, and ecofeminists

This is Environmental Ethics is essential reading for undergraduate students in courses on philosophy, geography, environmental studies, feminist theory, ecology, human and animal rights, and social justice, as well as an excellent graduate-level introduction to the key theories and thinkers of environmental philosophy.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series page
• Title page
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• About the Companion Website
• Introduction: Environmental Ethics in the Era of Ecological Crisis
• 1 Moral Principles and the Life Worth Living
• 2 Two Examples of Moral Extensionism: Peter Singer, Tom Regan, and Their Critics
• 3 Two More Examples of Moral Extensionism: Christopher Stone, Holmes Rolston III, and Their Critics
• 4 Two Examples of an Ecocentric Ethic: Aldo Leopold, Arne Naess, and Their Critics
• 5 From the Ecocentric Endgame to Eco-phenomenology
• 6 Environmental Justice: Ecological Feminism, Social Justice, and Animal Rights
• Index
• End User License Agreement