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A collection of more than 40 case studies covering diverse topics such as genetic engineering, aesthetics, pollution, animal rights, population, and resource management, Case Studies in Environmental Ethics is intended as a supplemental book for college courses primarily in environmental ethics. Each case presents factual information on a particular topic, followed by a discussion of the ethical implications of each topic and several insightful discussion questions. ... Read more

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Presupposing no prior knowledge of philosophy, John Benson introduces the reader to one fundamental question--whether a concern with human well-being is an adequate basis for environmental ethics.The book explores this question by considering some of the techniques that have been used to value the environment and by critically examining "light green" to "deep green" environmentalism. ... Read more

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Examines the significance of animal environments in contemporary continental thought. ... Read more

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Really helpful
This is a well written and well researched book. I highly recommend it in order to become familiar with the current work on animal life that refers back to Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Deleuze, and their appropriations of Uexkull. Probably the most penetrating chapters are on Heidegger. ... Read more

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From microcosm to macrocosm, ecodesign, green design, environmental design, and triple bottom line are quickly becoming more than just catchy phrases that describe touchy-feely trends. Increases in climate uncertainty and energy costs as well as food, water, and services insecurity, are just a few of the challenges driving the growing demand for sustainable design outcomes. Sustainability and Design Ethics provides a systematic value analysis that makes a reasoned argument the rethinking of current design methods and the values and ethics which guide them.

Providing context and language, this book delineates the ideas and principles that lie at the foundation of a variety of codes of ethics, and then critically analyzes existing published codes and the practices that stem from them. It takes a practical approach, discussing applied ethics, and relies upon an understanding of the moral reasoning that supports the ideas and professionalism and an ethical standard of care. Drawing on the author's experience as a design professional and his study of business ethics, this book supplies a detailed exposition of the underlying ethical reasoning involved in the challenges confronted by contemporary design professionals. This information can then be distilled into sustainable practices and the corresponding ethics.

Sustainability requires design professionals to expand the considerations of design beyond the traditional ethical points of view and to provide a balanced analysis of how a sustainable standard of care might be composed. While other books might cover the environment and design, professional ethics are addressed as an afterthought at most, if at all. And no other book available explores sustainability from a designer’s perspective. Examining present and future issues facing practitioners, the book provides a context for the values and ethics necessary for sustainable development design.

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Leading scholars critically assess the pioneering environmental philosophy of J. Baird Callicott. ... Read more

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We live in a world confronted by mounting environmental problems; increasing global deforestation and desertification, loss of species diversity, pollution and global warming. In everyday life people mourn the loss of valued landscapes and urban spaces. Underlying these problems are conflicting priorities and values. Yet dominant approaches to policy-making seem ill-equipped to capture the various ways in which the environment matters to us.

Environmental Values introduces readers to these issues by presenting, and then challenging, two dominant approaches to environmental decision-making, one from environmental economics, the other from environmental philosophy. The authors present a sustained case for questioning the underlying ethical theories of both of these traditions. They defend a pluralistic alternative rooted in the rich everyday relations of humans to the environments they inhabit, providing a path for integrating human needs with environmental protection through an understanding of the narrative and history of particular places. The book examines the implications of this approach for policy issues such as biodiversity conservation and sustainability.

Written in a clear and accessible style for an interdisciplinary audience, this volume will be ideal for student use in environmental courses in geography, economics, philosophy, politics and sociology.

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The New Way: Environmental Values
This book definitely embodies a mature, sophisticated perspective on the current field of environmental philosophy, and an important book to be used in teaching contemporary environmental ethics.This book signifies a break from the "old" discussions about environmental ethics (such as those spurred by Holmes Ralston III), progressing to a new stage where environmental philosophy can (and hopefully will) appeal to common sense morality and significantly influence environmental policy formation.

This is a must-read for anyone seriously interested in environmental philosophy. ... Read more

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This book is a rigorous, yet accessible introduction into the current philosophical discourses underpinning practices of environmental education. It provides a comprehensive theoretical framework, relating philosophical key issues and educational concerns in an intrinsic manner, against the background of current practices and policies. While the issues discussed are complex and abstract, the book is readable for a general audience.

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In an age when human depredation has severely damaged the earth and the delicate balance of life thereon, the task of poets writing about nature has become vastly more complex, fraught with the sometimes conflicting demands of aesthetics and of political and ethical responsibilities unimagined by their Romantic predecessors. In Greening the Lyre, David W. Gilcrest offers a richly insightful analysis of contemporary environmental poetry informed by a keen knowledge of psychology, linguistics, epistemology, rhetoric, and recent literary theory.

If one of the roles of poetry is to make life better and understanding more profound, how is the poet to discuss the natural world in the face of environmental devastation and extraordinary rates of extinction? How can art alter the path of a culture bent on destruction? Using careful analyses of works by A. R. Ammons, Wallace Stevens, Adrienne Rich, Charles Wright, Robert Frost, and others as the foundation of his discussion, Gilcrest examines both the power of poetry to help humanity re-envision its relationship to the nonhuman world and its limitations in achieving this awesome role.

Greening the Lyre is literary criticism at its most relevant, exploring the borderland between art and politics, between aesthetics and survival. Ultimately, Gilcrest suggests, a "skeptical environmental poetics" must develop an awareness of an evolving world that lies beyond the grasp of language, an understanding that language alone cannot fully define what is most precious in the world of wilderness, the ineluctable mystery of all living things. ... Read more

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This title examines the ethical and philosophical questions confronting activists, policy makers and educators in the battle against climate change. "Future Ethics: Climate Change and Political Action" presents a comprehensive examination of the philosophical questions facing activists, policy makers and educators fighting the causes of climate change. These questions reflect a genuine crisis in ethical reflection for individuals and groups in today's society and are also underpinned by a broader question of how the future forms the basis for action in the present. For instance, does the reporting of impending 'points of no return' in global warming renew a spirit of resistance or a spirit of fatalism? How is the future of the human species really imagined in society and how does this affect our sense of ethical responsibility? In this fascinating book, thirteen leading experts explore the philosophical and ethical issues underlying social responses to climate change and in particular how these responses draw upon ideas about the future.Ideal for students of environmental ethics in multiple disciplines, the book provides sources and discussion for anyone interested in issues to do with environment, society and ethics. ... Read more

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This book is an extensive, original and systematic treatment of many important philosophical and ethical aspects of food (consumption and production). May we eat just anything? Can we do everything with animals, even genetic modification? If not, how can we regulate those processes so that they lead to optimum animal welfare while at the same time producing optimum taste? The production of food also causes environmental pollution – does the fight against hunger have priority over the care of the environment? The care of the environment, animal welfare, and the quality of food should be in a certain harmony, but that is far from granted and hardly easy to achieve. These factors are often in conflict with each other, and a balance will thus need to be searched for.

Other factors to take into consideration are the issue of global famine, the care for a farming class that is able to keep its head above water in a decent way, and a fair trade system that does not throw up unnecessary barriers for newcomers or small market participants and that promotes good nutrition. Famine continues to be a widespread phenomenon that violates human rights, causing nearly a billion people to suffer from hunger or malnutrition. At the same time, deliberate hunger, abundance, and obesity are prevalent in the Western world. Both issues refer to the social and cultural aspects of food. Scientific and technological developments like genetic modification and functional food also play an increasingly important role; almost every bite that we take is determined by scientific developments. An extra difficulty is that scientific information is often contradictory, or that it relies on statistical probabilities that are difficult to translate into everyday certitudes.

All of these factors deserve attention, but it is the mix that is most important. In the land of food, ‘either or’ does not exist, only ‘both and’. The adequate measure of ‘both and’ serves as the starting point for this philosophical reflection.

Before Dinner is a must-read for all people interested in contemporary ethical issues of food, such as university students and researchers of food, agricultural and life sciences, as well as policymakers in these fields, such as members of professional organisations focusing on food and agriculture (f.e., EURSAFE (European Society for Agriculture and Food Ethics), the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society (USA), and European Federation of Biotechnology).

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These original essays explore non-reciprocated relationships with regard to the environment. The contributors—philosophers who are known for their writing on environmental concerns—discuss moral issues that arise when decisions by individuals, corporations, or governments cause changes in the environment that affect those who do not participate in the decisions. Among the topics addressed are population expansion, accumulation of toxic wastes, pollution of air and water, as well as the effects of actions by the "upstream," current generation on "downstream," future generations. ... Read more

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This exciting anthology emphasizes ethical issues in environmental policy while providing balanced coverage of theoretical perspectives and applied environmental topics. ... Read more

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Book for class
The item is what I needed for a class.It was in the condition that it stated it was in.It works fine for what it is needed for. ... Read more

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Discussions of science and values in risk management have largely focused on how values enter into arguments about risks, that is, issues of acceptable risk.Instead this volume concentrates on how values enter into collecting, interpreting, communicating, and evaluating the evidence of risks, that is, issues of the acceptability of evidence of risk.By focusing on acceptable evidence, this volume avoids two barriers to progress.One barrier assumes that evidence of risk is largely a matter of objective scientific data and therefore uncontroversial.The other assumes that evidence of risk, being "just" a matter of values, is not amenable to reasoned critique.Denying both extremes, this volume argues for a more constructive conclusion: understanding the interrelations of scientific and value issues enables a critical scrutiny of risk assessments and better public deliberation about social choices. The contributors, distinguished philosophers, policy analysts, and natural and social scientists, analyze environmental and medical controversies, and assumptions underlying views about risk assessment and the scientific and statistical models used in risk management. ... Read more

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A groundbreaking exploration of Heidegger and embodiment, from which a radical ethical perspective emerges. ... Read more

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This anthology contains numerous up-to-date, well-related readings on animal rights/animal liberation and environmental ethics—in addition to current topics such as ecological feminism, and practical applications. Approaching its subjects through a set of opposing readings shows the strength and weaknesses of various alternative positions.Readings cover the topics of Judeo-Christian Perspectives, Respect for Nature, The Land Ethic/Deep Ecology, Reconciliation and Defense, Social Ecology and Environmental Racism, and NonWestern Religious and Cultural Perspectives.For individuals concerned about the environment and the non-humans who inhabit it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

never showed up!
i am very upset with amazon.com. they have been great in the past, but this book was never delivered! it was a book i needed for school and because it didn't show up, i failed the class! i would suggest that amazon gets rid of this seller as soon as possible. ... Read more

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Organized into two main parts, the first on theory and the second on applications, the second edition of this popular anthology provides the most comprehensive set of readings available for environmental ethics and includes topic areas not covered in other anthologies. The text follows a dialogical pro/con format to present different and conflicting views on each topic and articles have been carefully selected for clarity and accessibility. ... Read more

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This is the only environmental casebook of its kind, presenting current and classic cases with the detail required for students to experience serious and complex issues.The authors present cases of immediate interest to students in a balanced and impartial manner. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

latest edition of a great book
Disclaimer: I haven't read the third edition.However, I still assign Newton & Dillingham's discussion of Love Canal in the first edition of Watersheds.The book isn't quite as distinctive as it used to be, but it's an excellent collection of accessible and fair-minded case studies.I would also recommend Judith Layzer's _The Environmental Case_, which places more emphasis on policy analysis (as opposed to ethics) and perhaps goes farther into some factual details.Any reviewer who recommends _Trashing the Planet_ to get the "other side" of ten different environmental issues has a pretty one-dimensional approach to environmental issues in general.Newton & Dillingham do believe that environmental problems are real, but beyond that they have no axes to grind.

Awful
The editorial review says balanced, so I suppose that part in my book fell out; I missed it.Read 'Trashing The Planet' by Dixie Lee Ray for the other side. ... Read more

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The biological and social sciences often generalize causal conclusions from one context or location to others that may differ in some relevant respects, as is illustrated by inferences from animal models to humans or from a pilot study to a broader population. Inferences like these are known as extrapolations. The question of how and when extrapolation can be legitimate is a fundamental issue for the biological and social sciences that has not received the attention it deserves. In Across the Boundaries, Steel argues that previous accounts of extrapolation are inadequate and proposes a better approach that is able to answer methodological critiques of extrapolation from animal models to humans.

Across the Boundaries develops the thought that knowledge of mechanisms linking cause to effect can serve as a basis for extrapolation. Despite its intuitive appeal, this idea faces several obstacles. Extrapolation is worthwhile only when there are stringent practical or ethical limitations on what can be learned about the target (say, human) population by studying it directly. Meanwhile, the mechanisms approach rests on the idea that extrapolation is justified when mechanisms are the same or similar enough. Yet since mechanisms may differ significantly between model and target, it needs to be explained how the suitability of the model could be established given only very limited information about the target. Moreover, since model and target are rarely alike in all relevant respects, an adequate account of extrapolation must also explain how extrapolation can be legitimate even when some causally relevant differences are present.

Steel explains how his proposal can answer these challenges, illustrates his account with a detailed biological case study, and explores its implications for such traditional philosophy of science topics ceteris paribus laws and reductionism. Finally, he considers whether mechanisms-based extrapolation can work in social science. ... Read more

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This casebook recounts nine pivotal events in the life of the planet. It presents accounts of cases such as Love Canal, the Exxon Valdez, Chernobyl, the north coast forests and the spotted owl, and the depletion of the ozone layer. Each of these cases offers a concrete, real life context in which to discover the complex decision making processes involved an environmental disaster. The authors illuminate the assumptions, values, political conflicts and social tensions at work in each situation. Through these cases, it challenges readers to recognize the far reaching impact of each disaster and to consider how such disasters could be prevented. On another level, these specific cases also compel readers to see the ethical basis of policy decisions and to reconsider our philosophical approach to our relationship with the earth. ... Read more