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Laden with Ambiguities and Non-Sequiturs
I'm using this book in my Environmental Ethics course at the City University of New York.This book is very difficult to read, and not in the same sense that Aristotle, Kant, or Nietzsche is difficult to read.Its lack of clarification and definitions is glaring at times, and its lack of adequate transitions between sentences and paragraphs gives the impression that some sentences are non-sequiturs.In addition, the author seems to find it difficult to put certain concepts in a way that readers can understand, and so resorts to quoting other authors excessively--sometimes for paragraphs at a time, and sometimes without even directly referring to the authors in the text. Instead, the author leaves a numbered superscript, indicating that we should look in the back of the book for source and clarification.It's clear from the text that the author has either not mastered the use of style and the use of clear, syllogistic reasoning, or has written this book in a rush, without taking heed of its pedagogical ineffectiveness. ... Read more

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Stressing the importance of understanding the grounds and the consequences of ethical or normative decision making, this collection of classic essays compiled by Pierce and VanDeVeer, examines disputes surrounding animals, ecosystems, the land, and their own proper place in the ongoing network of lives on this planet. A central question is "how can we live lives that are both personally satisfying but which are also ecologically sound and responsible?" ... Read more

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Being Human examines the complex connections among conceptions of human nature, attitudes toward non-human nature, and ethics. Anna Peterson proposes an "ethical anthropology" that examines how ideas of nature and humanity are bound together in ways that shape the very foundations of cultures. Peterson discusses mainstream Western understandings of what it means to be human, as well as alternatives to these perspectives, and suggests that the construction of a compelling, coherent environmental ethics will revise our ideas not only about nature but also about what it means to be human. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

One of the finest books I have read
I cannot say enough positive things about this book. Peterson manages to give the reader a thorough and balanced sense of historical approaches to environmental ethics. She covers all sides of the issues both in Euro-American philosophy and in other cultural traditions. But what truly makes the book unusual and well worth reading is that instead of taking the easy route toward one extreme position or another she carefully parses out and recombines a subtle set of conclusions from her sources. This may also be what keeps her from getting the attention I feel she deserves. The academic world (and the public even moreso) is much more responsive to an extreme argument that can easily be paraphrased. Unfortunately the world isn't so easy.

Her writing style is fluid and clear, and I think that anyone with an interest in this subject, and a willingness to slow down and pay attention, will benefit and enjoy reading the book. I liked it so much I bought 2 extra copies to loan out.

Great overview
This very useful book provides an overview of a whole host of attitudes toward the environment, and how humanity sees itself interacting with nature.For example, although buddhism seems environmentally friendly, Peterson points out that Asian cultures where Buddhist views are prevalent are not marked by less ecological degradation.Peterson analyzes the points of view she presents with care and honesty, and without a particular axe to grind.Actually, it was on the side of presenting an integrative alternative that I found this book less successful.Doesn't such breadth of reading and understanding help us find a way out of the quagmire?

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in environmental ethics, in developing environmental policies, and in understanding how we have got to the current-day problems.It provides a great overview of a range of fields to anyone who is concerned with specific problems, but wants to base solutions on a sound grounding.

Nicely written, too; not hard going.Really an admirable project. ... Read more

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The Spirit of the Soil challenges environmentalists to think more deeply and creatively about agriculture. Paul B. Thompson identifies four `worldviews' which tackle agricultural ethics according to different philosophical priorities; productionism, stewardship, economics and holism. He examines current issues such as the use of pesticides and biotechnology from these ethical perspectives. This book achieves an open-ended account of sustainability designed to minimise hubris and help us to recapture the spirit of the soil. ... Read more

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Superb general intro. to politics and ethics of agriculture
The educated layperson will find Dr. Thompson's *Spirit of the Soil* to be a perfect introduction to the bewilderingly complex ethical and economic questions that increasingly surround modern agriculture.The author ruthlessly dissects politically charged and often intentionally vague terms and concepts such as "sustainability," "stewardship," the consumer mentality, and the flawed yet indispensible materialism of modern production agriculture.This book will be enormously helpful to anyone who wants to attack farm policy with a more mature understanding of the ethical issues upon which the cultural and physical sustainability of modern agriculture depends ... Read more

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Difficult read.
This book is not the best academic prose, dealing less with the issues than with scripts. You will learn about what people are saying, but it probably won't inspire creative thinking. ... Read more

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Earthcare: Readings and Cases in Environmental Ethics presents a diverse collection of writings from a variety of authors on environmental ethics, environmental science, and the environmental movement overall. Exploring a broad range of world views, religions and philosophies, David W. Clowney and Patricia Mosto bring together insightful thoughts on the ethical issues arising in various areas of environmental concern. ... Read more

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A fantastic reminder for parents
This book is a great reminder for parents about the important and lasting effects of bringing your children out into the great outdoors, and through them awakening your own youthful wonder of the natural world. This is among my favorite quotes... there are several others.

"...from what I, too, have witnessed firsthand, I believe it is possible to develop an ethic of concern among humanity, simply by conserving and encouragng the love of nature so prominent in very young children, and, if necessary, as adults, reaching for that dormant, possibly cynical, perhaps forgotten love of the natural world within us, the truly 'wild side' of our natures. Give that wild side a chance to run free, climb up a tree, gallop down a river. Give it breath with the wind and revive it with yourself. Develop into a nation of whaleheads."

This is a great and important book told from the compassionate heart of a father with line art illustrations by his young son, Tyler. It will make you grab your kids' hand and take a walk outside.. and be very glad that you did. This book is a great gift. ... Read more

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There is a growing urgency in the worldwide environmental crisis. In INHABITING THE EARTH, Bruce Foltz, philosopher and environmental spokesperson, undertakes the first sustained analysis of how Heidegger's thought can contribute to environmental ethics and to the more broadly conceived field environmental philosophy. Through a comprehensive study of the status of "nature" and related concepts such as "earth" in the thought of Martin Heidegger, Foltz attempts to show how Heidegger's understanding of the natural environment and our relation to it offers a more promising basis for environmental philosophy than others than have so far been put foreword.

Dr. Foltz finds that to ecofeminism and social ecology, whose prescriptions are based on historically oriented etiologies of domination and oppression, Heidegger's work offers what is arguably the first comprehensive and nonreductive philosophy of history since Hegel that can embrace both nature and humanity in one narrative, and the first since Augustine that can do this while granting to nature a measure of self-standing. But it is probably for the environmental philosophies of deep ecology, bioregionalism, and ecological holism that Heidegger's work has the most immediate and extensive implications, because it is to them that it has the most affinity. Finally, as a corrective challenge to deep ecology, which has tended to valorize the scientific approach to nature, Heidegger's work provides a sophisticated basis for showing the primacy of the poetic in the task of learning to inhabit the earth rightly.

"Thinkers concerned with environmental philosophy will find this book a profound clarification of our concept of nature." by Professor Alphonso Lingis, Pennsylvania State University. ... Read more

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In For Love of Matter Freya Mathews challenges basic assumptions of Western science, modern philosophy, and environmental philosophy, arguing that the environmental crisis is a symptom of a larger, metaphysical crisis. Western science rests on the premise that the world is an inert backdrop to human presence rather than a communicative presence in its own right, one capable of dialogical congress with us. Mathews explores the transformative effects of a substitution of the latter, panpsychist premise for the former, materialist one. She suggests that to exist in a dialogical modality is to enter an expanded realm of eros in which the self and world are mutually kindled into a larger, more incandescent state of realization. She argues that any adequate philosophical response to the so-called "environmental crisis" cannot be encompassed within the minor discipline of environmental philosophy but must instead address the full range of existential questions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Is dedifferentiating subjective and objective the way?
Freya Mathews has provided us with a book that is beautifully expressed and thoroughly scholarly. It contains so many eloquent and lyrical passages that one is tempted to consider it in its corpus a poem rather than a philosophical tract. Nevertheless her depth of research and philosophical understanding would be enough to satisfy any philosopher. I particularly like her almost off-the-cuff remark about the need not to express one's spirituality on p. 186, note 6, so appropriate in this age of degradation of the spiritual.

I would take exception, however, to her way of approaching the subjective-objective division which she rightly confronts as the big elephant-in-the-room that has been obstructing philosophy since Descartes. Her approach is to overcome the division by extending its one side, the subjective pole, to everything that is considered to be objective, to the universe as a whole. In her "panpsychism," matter itself becomes subjective; and it "calls on us" to recognize it as such. Thus the subjective-objective split is overcome.

But is this not a regression simply to the mythological thinking that we have been at such pains to move out of? And in doing so, indeed, have produced the subjective-objective division? In this earlier mythological world outlook, "
"objective" is not yet being distinguished from "subjective," a fact that accounts for such characteristics of this thinking as word magic and superstition. It took many centuries to evolve from the mythic mentality, centuries that slowly led to the establishment of "reason" in the face of what could be illogical, and was often - - and still is - - enshrined in religious and philosophical belief systems that are crushing to the human spirit. This development has been slow: Plato had to combat Homer, the enlightenment had to combat the authority of the church, and today, still, science has to combat the myth of creationism. Mathews is much too sophisticated not to recognize the value of this march to reason; but it seems to me that trying to return to this previous mentality is fraught with the danger of returning again to the unreasonable.

I think a better path is to not to abolish the subjective-objective division through its dedifferentiation - - through undoing what we have through the centuries accomplished - - but to preserve it in recognition of its importance to stepping into rationality. We should attempt, instead, to go beyond it. The path to this kind of solution is pointed to in Kant's Copernican revolution where we change our focus from "being" to "knowing." The subjective-objective division becomes then a template (form, category) that we use for organizing our experience; alongside such other templates as space, time, and number, it becomes simply a principle of ordering. This path is best represented in the Philosophy of Symbolic Forms of the neo-Kantian, Ernst Cassirer, where he examined the way in which all these templates were developed in the course of cultural history.

excellent
This is a tightly argued, beautifully written work. I read it a month ago and have kept chewing it over and refering back to it ever since. A fascinating progression from Mathews' earlier book, The Ecological Self. I particularly like her use of the Eros and Psyche myth. ... Read more

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Bioregionalism and Global Ethics suggests that current trends towards globalization are creating entirely new social and environmental problems which require cross-cultural dialogue towards the creation of a new "global ethic." Current models of development are based on an implicit global ethic which advocates bringing everyone in the world up to the same standards of living as those prevalent in the so-called "developed" countries through unlimited economic growth. Evanoff argues that this goal is not only unattainable but also undesirable because it ultimately undermines the ability of the environment to sustain both human and non-human flourishing, exacerbates rather than overcomes social inequalities both within and between cultures, and fails to achieve genuine human well-being for all but a wealthy minority. An alternative bioregional global ethic is proposed which seeks to maximize ecological sustainability, social justice, and human well-being through the creation of economically self-sufficient and politically decentralized communities delinked from the global market but confederated at appropriate levels to address problems that transcend cultural borders. Such an ethic is based on a transactional view of the relationship between self, society, and nature, which attempts to create more symbiotic and less conflictual modes of interaction between human cultures and natural environments, while promoting the flourishing of both. Instead of a single monolithic global ethic, bioregionalism suggests that there should be sufficient convergence between cultures to allow for the successful resolution of mutual problems, but also sufficient divergence to enable the continued evolution of both biological and cultural diversity on a global scale.

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Environmental Ethics Today is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of the environment, our species, and species diversity. This wide-ranging introduction to major issues and questions in environmental ethics employs an accessible, journalistic style--featuring current facts, real controversies, individual stories, and a vivid narrative--that engages readers and gives meaning to abstract philosophical concepts. Topics discussed include pollution permits for corporations, medical experimentation on animals, genetic engineering, economic globalization, biodiversity, and much more. Theories and methods such as utilitarianism, contractarianism, and hermeneutics are introduced as needed to help readers understand and attempt to resolve environmental conflicts. The book considers the views of many thinkers including Father Thomas Berry, Wendell Berry, J. Baird Callicott, Jane Goodall, Garrett Hardin, David Korten, Aldo Leopold, Arne Naess, Val Plumwood, Daniel Quinn, Tom Regan, Holmes Rolston III, Vandana Shiva, Julian Simon, Peter Singer, and Karen Warren. An exceptional primary text for courses in environmental ethics and environmental values, Environmental Ethics Today is also excellent reading for general courses in moral problems, business ethics, environmental studies, and women's studies. ... Read more

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Destroying Staw Men
I had high hopes for this book, and wanted to use it as the primary text in a class on environemental ethics.Unfortunately it is too biased and dated for that task, and perhaps only useful as a recommended resource to present one side of the issues.

Wenz has an annoying habit of seeming to be objective, but actually riding his own hobby horses in to save the day.Case in point: despite the fact that there are a noticable cadre of scientists and environmentalists who are not "gloom and doomers" about the overall state of the environment, Wenz uses Julian Simon as his "whipping boy" almost exclusively, quoting snippets of Simon's work (from the early 80s) then retorting "But he is wrong" almost as an automated response.Although I am not a Simon devotee, his work needs to be taken much more seriously, and his main point (that humans' increasing longevity argues well for better environmentla health) cannot be dismissed nearly so easily as Wenz suggests.In addition, the book suffers from not bringing in more who share Simon's take--if Wenz's own views are right, why doesn't he want to engage all reflective thinkers on the issues?Good question.

And I was frankly incredulous to read Wenz' claim that "the media continue to emphasize the positive [news about the environment] and ignore the negative" (p. 5).That claim is flatly false on its face, and can be disproven on an almost hourly basis by watching channels as diverse as the Weather Channel, the History Channel, or any media outlet.Television virtually pulses with negative takes on the environment, but that fact apparently would not support Wenz' cause (as a prophet?) so he either ignores it or is woefully ignorant of what drives the modern media.Al Gore has reportedly reaped over $30 million off his global tour with his road show version of An Inconvenient Truth, and his notoriety and fame cannot be escaped by even those who ignore the TV altogether.Frankly, wearing the sackcloth robes of the modern-day environmental gloomer is big business, and is the fuel that drives about 90% of the media's take on the environment.How did Wenz miss this?

Thus, this book is far from an objective "state of the globe" insofar as a snapshot of the environment, and more one man's take on what he thinks are its problems and its solutions.I expect better from academics. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

I wish every politician and business owner had to read this
The title of this review says it all.I think this book is full of very very useful information.It is full of pressing and urgent arguments to some of the worst problems facing humanity.It is certainly full of citations, proving that these are urgent problems.A great read for anyone trying to figure out some information on the environment or social justice.The only problem is there are odd typos throughout the book, but that's just picky.Read it anyway!

Responsible, informative, compassionate.
I found Patrick Hossay's treatment of his topic compassionate and refreshing. The work is well researched with citations provided for all facts--even those that the reader might prefer to dismiss.
And while the matter-of-fact style of writing allows for maximum comprehension, there are also annotations that will help the more ambitious reader tackle the evidence at its source. If only the governments, special interest groups, and elite-business-concerns discussed in this book had that kind of transparency.

Excellent Teacher Resource
Professor Hossay's book helped me to understand, in very clear terms, that the great challenge of the 21st Century is the expanding gap between the rich and poor, which when coupled with corporate globalization, reaches an unprecedented level of overconsumption that is ecologically unsustainable.Therefore, the income gap, which on its own merit, can be argued as an unethical and immoral policy outcome, is also inescapably detrimental to the rich as much a the poor, since the planet itself will no longer be able to sustain such cultural excesses.
As a high school teacher of International Relations and Economics, I have found this "primer for environmental and social justice" a highly useful tool. It's a refreshing supplement to the dry, outdated, and dare I say irrelevant text books that my district has provided me as "global studies curriculum."
Since most of my students were born and raised in relatively affluent NJ suburbs, they tend to "feel sorry for" countries in the Global South, but see no real connection between their own lifestyle and its consequences in the global economy.Further, many of my students are well-meaning in their determination to try and "save the planet," but from an economic and political perspective, the larger picture seems to be "lost" on them. In other words, they have never been confronted with the possibility that it will take more than a recycle drive or beach clean-up to deal with the havoc we've already brought to the earth, and that perhaps some fundamental changes and cultural sacrifice will have to be made in order to make any kind of progress.
In effect, I've appreciated Dr. Hossay's book so much because it forces my students and me to face reality at a time when we are so needing a wake-up call.Also, the scientific data, including numerous graphs, have served as important visuals throughout my courses, and provided me with the legitimacy to stand up to any of my colleagues who have tried to accuse me of politicking.
By confronting the "clash of civilizations theory" so directly, I am now able to discuss with my students that the violence they are witnessing in accross the Middle East is not the "birth pangs" of democracy, but rather a larger symptom of a global competiion for limited resources that will ultimately destroy the planet unless young people like themselves are willing to transcend national and tribal loyalties in order to work for a greater good.
I owe so much thanks to Patrick Hossay, an exceptional scholar, who has helped me deliver a complex message in terms that I and my students can actually grasp.
... Read more

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This collection gathers a set of seminal papers from the emerging area of ethics and climate change. Topics covered include human rights, international justice, intergenerational ethics, individual responsibility, climate economics, and the ethics of geoengineering. Climate Ethics is intended to serve as a source book for general reference, and for university courses that include a focus on the human dimensions of climate change. It should be of broad interest to all those concerned with global justice, environmental science and policy, and the future of humanity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Repetitive
There are a few ideas communicated in this book worth contemplating. However, I have two major problems with the book - hence its poor review. A) It is highly repetitive. Each essay tends to repeat much of what has already been stated in previous essays. B) From the title, one might expect this to encompass a broad range of ideas and potential approaches to the crisis. It does not. I feel as if the bulk (if not all) the essays are directed toward policy-makers. There is hardly a departure, the whole book through, from this (in my opinion) narrow viewpoint. If you are someone of influence on public policy who is looking for some idealized viewpoints, then this book may be for you. Otherwise, steer clear.

Essential Reading in the Ethics of Climate Change Policy
Some of the best articles on climate change that I have ever read -- and I have "read then all,"In particular the clarity and honesty of Henry Shue. ... Read more

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With its thematic focus on ecolacy, the understanding of the natural environment and our relationship to it, Pojman's text strikes a balance between theoretical and applied issues in environmental ethics. ... Read more

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Very helpful but who the hell was the editor?
This book is not a comedy but you will laugh. There are so many typos it isn't even funny. Getting past that, this book is full of good info to help you write a Phase I Site Assessment. ... Read more

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Shrader-Frechette offers a rigorous philosophical discussion of environmental justice. Explaining fundamental ethical concepts such as equality, property rights, procedural justice, free informed consent, intergenerational equity, and just compensation--and then bringing them to bear on real-world social issues--she shows how many of these core concepts have been compromised for a large segment of the global population, including Appalachians, African-Americans, workers in hazardous jobs, and indigenous people in developing nations. She argues that burdens like pollution and resource depletion need to be apportioned more equally, and that there are compelling ethical grounds for remedying our environmental problems. She also argues that those affected by environmental problems must be included in the process of remedying those problems; that all citizens have a duty to engage in activism on behalf of environmental justice; and that in a democracy it is the people, not the government, that are ultimately responsible for fair use of the environment. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Timely
I read this book after seeing Shrader-Frechette's interview in the US Catholic, and I found the work to be an excellent introduction to the philosophical and historical issues surrounding the EJ movement.

Maybe if you're a philosopher you'll like it...
After reading this title in an undergraduate philosophy class, and reading it carefully and thoroughly, I feel confident giving it a bad review.It was selected by the professor, who I assume is a fan, but I know I, and all my friends in class, extremely dislike this book.I'm a very strong student, an environmentalist, and whatever else you think I need to be a credible reviewer, but this book is very un-engaging.If you're a professor yourself, I urge you not to use it in class.
The arguments are at times internally inconsistent (the author feels comfortable negating opponents for using the same argument structures she later uses), hyperbolic (the author creates extensive yet repetitive lists of victims of various injustices, redundantly reclassifying the same individual in several ways to make the list longer), and on and on.
The nail in the coffin, from a student's point of view, is that it does so in an extremely boring manner.I feel bad that the first review is such a negative one, but from the eye of a undergrad, it's a really bad book.Hopefully a professional philosopher can be more constructive, but undergrad students (its a class for majors and non-majors, to fill a core requirement) are not an appropriate audience for this book. ... Read more

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Nature is perhaps the most ancient philosophical category, yet few others are of greater current relevance. Still, a quarter century back, not even the most astute observer would have predicted a wild turn in philosophy. There has been no more surprising philosophical development than the recent, serious reconsideration of the human relationship to the ecosystemic Earth. The questions come in many forms: Have we any duties to natural things at all, or merely duties to persons concerning natural things? What sort of human dominion over nature is proper? In what senses can or should humans follow nature? Have we duties to animals, perhaps at least to sentient animals? Have we duties to endangered species, or, again, only duties to persons concerning rare species? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Historical Environmental Ethics
For those of you who are interested in the history/evolution of environmental philosophy/ethics, this is a must-read.However, I would not recommend this book to those who are interested in a nuanced approach to environmental philosophy/ethics since this book offers an antiquated perspective on how we "ought" to treat "nature". ... Read more