DOCSLIB.ORG

MA Thesis: Environmental Pragmatism, Systematism, and the Reach of Environmental Ethics

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
MA Thesis: Environmental Pragmatism, Systematism, and the Reach of Environmental Ethics Environmental Pragmatism, Systematism and the Reach of Environmental Ethics Anders Krosshavn Vik Master thesis of philosophy, IFIKK Faculty of Humanities Supervisor: prof. Arne Johan Vetlesen UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Autumn 2014 II Environmental Pragmatism, Systematism and the Reach of Environmental Ethics III © Anders Krosshavn Vik 2014 Title: Environmental Pragmatism, Systematism and the Reach of Environmental Ethics Author: Anders Krosshavn Vik http://www.duo.uio.no/ Print: Norsk Aero AS IV V The more conventional opinion gets fixated on the antithesis of truth and falsity, the more it tends to expect a given philosophical system to be either accepted or contradicted; and hence it finds only acceptance or rejection.[…] The bud disappears in the bursting-forth of the blossom, and one might say that the former is refuted by the latter; similarly, when the fruit appears, the blossom is shown up in its turn as a false manifestation of the plant, and the fruit now emerges as the truth of it instead. – G. W. F. Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit VI Abstract This thesis deals with and defends the position in environmental philosophy known as environmental pragmatism. Contextualized against the dominant background of monistic non- anthropocentric theories in environmental ethics, this position attempts an alternative account both of intrinsic value in non-human nature, and of the task of ethics in itself. Presenting some contributions from such authors as Bryan Norton, Anthony Weston, Andrew Light, Kelly Parker and Ben Minteer, the work attempts to promote a stronger practical orientation in environmental ethics which seeks to make contributions to solving concrete problems and become relevant to environmental policy. As a continuation of this project, I suggest a further expansion which I call ‘systematism’ which attempts to reorient ethics in light of large scale social dynamics and their implications for agency and an effective ethical framework. VII Acknowledgements I would like to thank my parents for their love and support throughout my project. My father in particular for his heroic last minute proofreads. You are the goodest English teacher of all. Also my mother for her care and encouragement when I needed it the most. Thank you both for teaching me to think for myself. I also extend my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Arne Johan, who has been the invaluable source of immersive discussions which I regret now being over. Whatever merit pertains to this work I share with the above, although its faults, to be sure, are mine alone. Thank you Facebook for your many distractions, but also for the likes you will now no doubt bestow upon me. Thank you last but not least Ellen for your loving support and for the countless cups of coffee served at the bedside. I promise I will now start helping with the laundry again. VIII Preface From a very young age, there was a distinct sense in my mind about the importance of sustainability and finitude. At about 4 or 5 I remember realizing that pealing snots from my nose and flicking them on the floor, was not a good idea if left unchecked in the long run. At about 10, I once declared to my parents how, when I grew up I would combat deforestation by ensuring every chopped tree be replaced by 10 more. My understanding, I hope, has since evolved, but my attitude, no doubt remained the same. Thus, my interest was soon sparked upon discovering environmental philosophy as an undergraduate. That year’s semester paper, however, proved to be a limited arena for exploring the many ideas that had caught my attention. My agreements with some of them, and indeed reservations against others were left unsatisfactorily articulated, some of which I hope will be better served here. The current work attempts to form a picture of these reservations and present an alternative position, which I luckily discovered as sharing many of my own concerns. This somewhat unknown position, known as environmental pragmatism, is here my main area of inquiry put against a background of clustering ethical positions, which I argue constitute a main paradigm in the field today. The criticism of these positions, known as monistic non-anthropocentrisms, contains both an ethical and a meta-ethical component. The first level ethical objection is that their approach to ethical theory in general is too atomistic and too theoretically confined to absolutes and dualistic distinctions. The atomistic and foundational concept of value fundamental to such ethics fails to capture the relational and interchanging character of values which defines our experience with them and which serve not only identity value attain their identities through their relationship to other values. I attempt to outline an alternative pragmatic understanding of value, which abandons the effort to capture the exact nature of each value in isolation. Thus, it takes a pluralistic approach to ethics, attempting to open the doors for cooperation. It blurs the many sharp distinctions and exclusive categories often made by monistic theories, thereby rejecting the paradigmatic project of finding moral grounding in an Archimedean point. The meta-ethical argument is that it is inadequate when returning too little of practical value to the struggles with environmental causes. Environmental pragmatists often suggest rather an approach, which is focused on making relevant contributions to policy or social movements, IX rather than delving deeper into the complexities and irresolvable differences of value theory. Rather, they suggest that taking a basis in the myriad intuitions of natural value that are already present and build upon them to cultivate better conduct in the face of urgent environmental problems. Building on this effort comes my own attempt to expand the horizon of environmental pragmatism. I try to take a systemic viewpoint to ask whether the environmental problems and environmental destructiveness and behaviour may be attacked from different angles than only moral ones. It seems that many are already clear on what needs to be done to avoid environmental destruction, but that there are further systemic, social and psychological obstacles in between, which seems to escape the scope of ethical theory. I suggest that a wider holistic notion of agency which includes higher order hierarchies may be of help in discovering new sources of moral agency that seems unavailable in the atomistic conception of the agent. Further, in the attempt to reveal the obstacles preventing environmental adaption, I argue that empirical human or social sciences may help in forming better models of how behavioural, political and social change is possible from the systemic level, an empirical approach much in line with the empirical aspirations of pragmatism. In the following text, the terms ‘environmental pragmatism’ and simply ‘pragmatism’ are sometimes used interchangeably. Hopefully, context will reveal the intended sense. X Table of Content 2.1 What is environmental pragmatism? ......................................................................... 14 2.2 Historical roots .......................................................................................................... 19 2.2.1 American pragmatism ........................................................................................ 20 2.2.2 Beginnings of environmental pragmatism ......................................................... 22 2.3 What is the question of environmental philosophy? ................................................. 26 2.4 Intrinsic value in environmental pragmatism ............................................................ 30 2.5 Pluralism and Norton’s convergence hypothesis....................................................... 38 2.5.1 Pluralism ............................................................................................................. 38 2.5.2 The convergence hypothesis .............................................................................. 39 2.6 A new type of ethics .................................................................................................. 41 2.7 Beyond intrinsic value and non-anthropocentric monism ......................................... 43 2.8 Criticism and problems .............................................................................................. 50 2.8.1 Is pragmatism self-enclosed as well? ................................................................. 51 2.8.2 Compatibility paradox of pluralism ................................................................... 58 3.1 The psycho-behavioural thesis .................................................................................. 64 3.1.1 Sensitivity of attitudes to moral persuasion ....................................................... 68 3.1.2 Sensitivity of behaviour to moral attitudes ........................................................ 70 3.2 Ethical agent holism .................................................................................................. 71 3.2.1 Supplementing the bottom-up approach ............................................................ 71 3.2.2 The banality of environmental behaviour .......................................................... 76 3.2.3 Redistributing responsibility .............................................................................. 79 3.3 Institutionalist accounts ............................................................................................. 81 4.1 The argument so far ..................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Metaphysical Approach to Environmental Sustainability- Alfred
    A METAPHYSICAL APPROACH TO ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY: ALFRED NORTH WHITEHEAD’S PROCESS PHILOSOPHY By DYNESIUS NYANGAU C50/79646/2015 A Research Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Arts in Philosophy, University of Nairobi 2016 DECLARATION I declare that this research project is my original work and has not been presented for examination in any other university. __________________________ _______________________________ Sign Date Dynesius Nyangau C50/79646/2015 This research project has been submitted for examination with my approval as the university supervisor. ____________________________ _______________________________ Sign Date Dr. Patrick O. Nyabul Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies University of Nairobi ii DEDICATION To the late Professor Joseph Nyasani, in whose sense of duty I will ever remain, for his acerbic academic discernment, resolute inspiration and unflagging demonstration of the most philosophical audacity, charity and bounteousness in the face of great hardship. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I hold with esteem the input of Prof. Stephen Ifedha Akaranga, the Head of Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies for his specific contribution on methodology while working on this document. I remain indebted to my supervisor Dr. Patrick O. Nyabul for his dedication, continuous review and guidance throughout the study. I acknowledge with gratitude the input of Prof. Karori Mbugua and Prof. Solomon Monyenye who listened, critiqued, and helped me organize my thoughts before beginning to put down the proposal for this project. I thank my educators Dr. Francis Owakah and Dr. Oriare Nyarwath, whose constructive criticism and input helped shape up this work. I express gratitude to Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecological Reconstruction: Pragmatism and the More-Than-Human Community
    A Thesis entitled Ecological Reconstruction: Pragmatism and the More-Than-Human Community by Matthew S. Bower Submitted to the Graduate Faculty as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree in Philosophy ________________________________________ Dr. James Campbell, Committee Chair ________________________________________ Dr. Ashley Pryor, Committee Member ________________________________________ Dr. Ammon Allred, Committee Member ________________________________________ Dr. Patricia Komuniecki, Dean College of Graduate Studies The University of Toledo May 2010 An Abstract of Ecological Reconstruction: Pragmatism and the More-Than-Human Community by Matthew S. Bower As partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree in Philosophy The University of Toledo May 2010 Ecological reconstruction challenges the historical chasm between culture and nature by using the normative implications of ecology to assert a primacy of relations in experience. Drawing upon the framework of John Dewey and classical American Pragmatism, I sketch out an experimental method for thinking about environmental philosophy that follows this reconstruction, moving beyond both applied ethics and dogmatic values. Central to this move is the possibility of opening up ecotonal spaces, literal and theoretical cites of intensified interaction between cultural and natural systems. These spaces furnish reconstruction with the experiences necessary to generate new concepts that set human communities on the course towards greater ecological attentiveness. iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my committee for their wisdom and guidance, my family for all of their support, and everyone who has ever joined me for a walk in the woods. I am grateful to have been introduced at such a young age to the necessity of the wild.
    [Show full text]
  • Of Mainstream Religion in Australia
    Is 'green' religion the solution to the ecological crisis? A case study of mainstream religion in Australia by Steven Murray Douglas Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the Australian National University March 2008 ii Candidate's Declaration This thesis contains no material that has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university. To the best of the author’s knowledge, it contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text. Steven Murray Douglas Date: iii Acknowledgements “All actions take place in time by the interweaving of the forces of nature; but the man lost in selfish delusion thinks he himself is the actor.” (Bhagavad Gita 3:27). ‘Religion’ remains a somewhat taboo subject in Australia. When combined with environmentalism, notions of spirituality, the practice of criticality, and the concept of self- actualisation, it becomes even harder to ‘pigeonhole’ as a topic, and does not fit comfortably into the realms of academia. In addition to the numerous personal challenges faced during the preparation of this thesis, its very nature challenged the academic environment in which it took place. I consider that I was fortunate to be able to undertake this research with the aid of a scholarship provided by the Fenner School of Environment & Society and the College of Science. I acknowledge David Dumaresq for supporting my scholarship application and candidature, and for being my supervisor for my first year at ANU. Emeritus Professor Valerie Brown took on the role of my supervisor in David’s absence during my second year.
    [Show full text]
  • Metaphysics Or Metaphors for the Anthropocene? Scientific Naturalism and the Agency of Things
    Open Philosophy 2018; 1: 191–212 Patrick Gamez* Metaphysics or Metaphors for the Anthropocene? Scientific Naturalism and the Agency of Things https://doi.org/10.1515/opphil-2018-0014 Received June 17, 2018; accepted July 31, 2018 Abstract: In this paper, I provide the outlines of an alternative metaphilosophical orientation for Continental philosophy, namely, a form of scientific naturalism that has proximate roots in the work of Bachelard and Althusser. I describe this orientation as an “alternative” insofar as it provides a framework for doing justice to some of the motivations behind the recent revival of metaphysics in Continental philosophy, in particular its ecological-ethical motivations. In the second section of the paper, I demonstrate how ecological-ethical issues motivate new metaphysicians like Bruno Latour, Jane Bennett, Timothy Morton, Ian Bogost, and Graham Harman to impute to objects real features of agency. I also try to show how their commitments lead to deep ambiguities in their metaphysical projects. In the final section, I outline a type of scientific naturalism in Continental philosophy that parallels the sort of naturalism championed by Quine, both conceptually and historically, and suggest that it might serve our ecological-ethical purposes better. Keywords: speculative realism, vital materialism, environmental ethics, non-anthropocentrism, Bachelard, Althusser, Continental philosophy 1 Introduction 1.1 Overview The landscape of Continental philosophy has changed radically in the early 21st century. The last 15 years have seen a resurgence of speculative philosophy, rationalisms, and realisms of all stripes. We see this in the “new materialism” of Diana Coole and others, the Deleuzian realism of Manuel Delanda, the “object-oriented philosophy” of Graham Harman, and many others.
    [Show full text]
  • Ontology and Ethics at the Intersection of Phenomenology and Environmental Philosophy*
    Inquiry, 47, 380–412 Ontology and Ethics at the Intersection of Phenomenology and Environmental Philosophy* Iain Thomson University of New Mexico The idea inspiring the eco-phenomenological movement is that phenomenology can help remedy our environmental crisis by uprooting and replacing environmentally- destructive ethical and metaphysical presuppositions inherited from modern philosophy. Eco-phenomenology’s critiques of subject/object dualism and the fact/value divide are sketched and its positive alternatives examined. Two competing approaches are discerned within the eco-phenomenological movement: Nietzscheans and Husserlians propose a naturalistic ethical realism in which good and bad are ultimately matters of fact, and values should be grounded in these proto- ethical facts; Heideggerians and Levinasians articulate a transcendental ethical realism according to which we discover what really matters when we are appropriately open to the environment, but what we thereby discover is a transcendental source of meaning that cannot be reduced to facts, values, or entities of any kind. These two species of ethical realism generate different kinds of ethical perfectionism: naturalistic ethical realism yields an eco-centric perfectionism which stresses the flourishing of life in general; transcendental ethical realism leads to a more ‘humanistic’ perfectionism which emphasizes the cultivation of distinctive traits of Dasein. Both approaches are examined, and the Heideggerian strand of the humanistic approach defended, since it approaches the best elements of the eco-centric view while avoiding its problematic ontological assumptions and anti-humanistic implications. I. Introduction: Uncovering the Conceptual Roots of Environmental Devastation What happens when you cross phenomenology with environmental philoso- phy? According to the editors of Eco-Phenomenology: Back to the Earth Itself, you get an important interdisciplinary movement.
    [Show full text]
  • Environmental Philosophy: Beyond Environmental Ethics
    Environmental Philosophy: Beyond Environmental Ethics Mark Colyvan* Abstract: There are many interesting philosophical issues associated with the science and policy of conserving our natural environment. Despite much of the philosophical work being passed off as environmental ethics, it is clear that the issues in question go well beyond anything that can reasonably be thought of as belonging to environmental ethics. A great deal of the philosophical work required involves epistemology and decision theory. Moreover, this is no mere terminological issue. Misconstruing the nature of the issues in question, and the tools available to deal with them, can result in sub- optimal environmental outcomes. Once we disentangle the various philosophical issues in question, the proper role of environmental ethics, and environmental philosophy more generally, becomes clearer. The central focus of environmental ethics ought to be that of how to implement ethical environmental strategies in the face of uncertainty—uncertainty both about how the world is and about the relevant values. But the proper representation of the uncertainties in question is the business of epistemology, and the proper framework for making the decisions in question is the business of decision theory. Thinking that either of these latter issues falls within the purview of environmental ethics is a dangerous mistake. Environmental ethics concerns itself with ethical issues arising from the relationship between humans and the natural environment. Of particular interest are ethical considerations in relation to human efforts to conserve the natural environment. Some of the key environmental ethics issues are whether environmental value is intrinsic or instrumental, whether biodiversity is valuable in itself or whether it is an indicator of some other value(s), and what the appropriate time scale is for conservation planning.
    [Show full text]
  • APA Eastern Division 2019 Annual Meeting Program
    The American Philosophical Association EASTERN DIVISION ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING PROGRAM SHERATON NEW YORK TIMES SQUARE NEW YORK, NEW YORK JANUARY 7 – 10, 2019 Visit our table at APA Eastern OFFERING A 20% (PB) / 40% (HC) DISCOUNT WITH FREE SHIPPING TO THE CONTIGUOUS U.S. FOR ORDERS PLACED AT THE CONFERENCE. THE POETRY OF APPROACHING HEGEL’S LOGIC, GEORGES BATAILLE OBLIQUELY Georges Bataille Melville, Molière, Beckett Translated and with an Introduction by Angelica Nuzzo Stuart Kendall THE POLITICS OF PARADIGMS ZHUANGZI AND THE Thomas S. Kuhn, James B. Conant, BECOMING OF NOTHINGNESS and the Cold War “Struggle for David Chai Men’s Minds” George A. Reisch ANOTHER AVAILABLE APRIL 2019 WHITE MAN’S BURDEN Josiah Royce’s Quest for a Philosophy THE REAL METAPHYSICAL CLUB of white Racial Empire The Philosophers, Their Debates, and Tommy J. Curry Selected Writings from 1870 to 1885 Frank X. Ryan, Brian E. Butler, and BOUNDARY LINES James A. Good, editors Philosophy and Postcolonialism Introduction by John R. Shook Emanuela Fornari AVAILABLE MARCH 2019 Translated by Iain Halliday Foreword by Étienne Balibar PRAGMATISM APPLIED William James and the Challenges THE CUDGEL AND THE CARESS of Contemporary Life Reflections on Cruelty and Tenderness Clifford S. Stagoll and David Farrell Krell Michael P. Levine, editors AVAILABLE MARCH 2019 AVAILABLE APRIL 2019 LOVE AND VIOLENCE BUDDHIST FEMINISMS The Vexatious Factors of Civilization AND FEMININITIES Lea Melandri Karma Lekshe Tsomo, editor Translated by Antonio Calcagno www.sunypress.edu II IMPORTANT NOTICES FOR MEETING ATTENDEES SESSION LOCATIONS Please note: this online version of the program does not include session locations.
    [Show full text]
  • "Environmental Justice"
    IIENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE"JUSTICE" Holmes Rolston, IIIIII Colorado State UniversityUniversity nvironmentalJustice is a welcome addition to the rapidly growing literature in envi­ A review of Peter S. Wenz's Environmental ronmental ethics. Two dozen titles are Justice, (Albany: State University of New York E currently in print or in press, and this Press, 1988).368 pages. $52.50 hardbound, book will hold its own in that vigorous discussion. Peter S. Wenz is Associate Professor of Philosophy $19.95 paper. and Legal Studies at Sangaman State University, Springfield, Illinois. His background in law as well as philosophy shapes his approach, which is from the perspective of justice. "Environmental Justice is primarily about theories of distributive justice, the­ ories concerning the manner in which benefits and burdens should be allocated when there is a scarcity of benefits (relative to people's wants or needs) and a surfeit of burdens" (pp. xi-xii). "The present book is largely devoted to examining com­ peting principles of distributive justice as they are, or may be used to make environmentally focused decisions" (p. 24). Wenz finds environmental justice of critical importance, both practically and theoretically. "I have argued that we live in an extremely unjust world" (p. 338). "From the environmentalenvironmental justice perspective, the world is a mess" (p. 339). In his .~~., '~~''q ~ q'# REVIEW q'# Ii 1.L.)~ I!l~ Summer 1989 147 Between the Species '-"~.>j',,~ ..'?!l'{;-""'i,,)<,'i:*,'~"'., :c.."-." Environmenta1Jusnee search for justice, Wenz surveys available theories animal rights. Humans have a right to be rescued and tests them against cases real and imagined.
    [Show full text]
  • Thinking Duck the Newsletter for the Department of Philosophy at the University of Oregon Spring 2008
    The THINKING DUCK THE NEWSLETTER FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON SPRING 2008 The Society for Interdisciplinary Feminist Phenomenology A new initiative promises to change the face of feminist philosophy by Lori Brown, graduate student he Society for Interdisciplin- ary Feminist Phenomenology T (SIFP) will host its inaugural institute and public forum over Me- morial Day weekend, May 28–31. SIFP is the brainchild of philoso- phy faculty members Bonnie Mann and Beata Stawarska. Bringing it to fruition, however, has involved the efforts of people and programs from across—and beyond—the uni- versity. Bonnie and Beata founded the institute in 2006 with advisory assistance from Sara Heinämaa, senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of Helsinki, and Eva Maria Simms, professor of psychology at Duquesne University. The society’s inception was further aided by gen- erous funding from the University Seated (left to right): cofounders of SIFP Dr. Beata Stawarska and Dr. Bonnie Mann. Back row of Oregon’s Center for the Study of (left to right): current administrative graduate teaching fellows and graduate students Caroline Lundquist, Elena Cuffari, Emma Jones, Amrita Banerjee and Sarah LaChance Adams Women in Society, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Wired Humanities Project, the Oregon complished through a small-group focus, an opportunity for deep Humanities Center, and the Department of Philosophy. engagement with one another’s work beforehand, and a commit- Graduate students in the philosophy department also have ment to holding the sessions in a beautiful place. been integral to the society’s success. Sarah LaChance Adams Now, that last point may catch you off guard.
    [Show full text]
  • A Critical Reflection on Environmental Pragmatism
    A CRITICAL REFLECTION ON ENVIRONMENTAL PRAGMATISM A Thesis Submitted in to Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy By DEVARTHA MORANG ROLL NO-09614105 DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY GUWAHATI Guwahati 781039 India October 2016 1 DEDICATION To my parents & my mother-in- law Smti. Tileswari Loing 2 TH-1633_09614105 Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati Department of Humanities & Social Sciences Guwahati 781039 Assam, India DECLARATION I hereby declare that the thesis entitle “ A Critical Reflection on Environmental Pragmatism ” is a research work carried out by me in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, under the supervision of Prof. Prabhu Venkataraman for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. This work has not been submitted elsewhere for award of any degree or diploma in any university or institute. Devartha Morang 21 st October 2016 IIT Guwahati i TH-1633_09614105 Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati Department of Humanities & Social Sciences Guwahati 781039 Assam, India CERTIFICATE It is certified that the matter embodied in the thesis entitled A Critical Reflection on Environmental Pragmatism, submitted for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Devartha Morang, a student of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India, has been carried out under my supervision. It is also certified that this work has not been submitted anywhere else for the award of a research degree. IIT Guwahati Dr. V. Prabhu October 2016 Associate Professor Department of Humanities and Social Sciences IIT Guwahati, Assam, India ii TH-1633_09614105 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I thank my parent organization the Biswanath College for giving me opportunity to pursue my research work at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India in the department of Humanities and social sciences.
    [Show full text]
  • Environmental Philosophy
    INTRODUCTION Environmental Philosophy Anthropocentrism, Intrinsic Value, and Worldview Clash ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY HAS CHALLENGED THE DOMINANT WESTERN CULTURE’S CONCEPTION OF human nature through critiques of anthropocentrism (human chauvinism). It has annoyed the mainstream with critiques of instrumental rationality and its plea on behalf of the intrinsic value of nature. It has irritated nonenviron- mentalists and even some environmentalists with its criticism of mechanism or the reductionist scientific worldview and has argued in favor of some form of ecological worldview. The critique of anthropocentrism, the intrinsic value of nature, and the ecological worldview are central topics for environmental phi- losophers, appearing across a wide range of environmentalist writing, from environmental ethics and policy to political ecology, ecocriticism, and meta- physics. As I understand them, these topics have characterized environmental philosophy since its inception in the 1970s. In the widespread environmental imaginary of a few decades ago, perhaps the central term of engagement for environmental philosophers and ethicists was the concept of anthropocentrism. Anthropocentrism—whose core mean- ing is human-centric evaluation—was also considered by many to be one of the central causes of the environmental crisis. Identifying its historical and conceptual sources and pulling them out by the roots formed a large part of 1 © 2020 State University of New York Press, Albany the environmentalist response.1 By the early 1990s, the Australian
    [Show full text]
  • Environmental and Ecological Justice
    Environmental and ecological justice Book or Report Section Accepted Version Okereke, C. and Charlesworth, M. (2014) Environmental and ecological justice. In: Betsill, M. M., Hochstetler, K. and Stevis, D. (eds.) Advances in International Environmental Politics. 2nd Edition. Palgrave Advances. Palgrave Macmilian, New York, pp. 123-147. ISBN 9781137338969 Available at http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/38520/ It is advisable to refer to the publisher’s version if you intend to cite from the work. See Guidance on citing . Published version at: http://www.palgrave.com/page/detail/advances-in-international-environmental-politics-michele- m-betsill/?K=9781137338969 Publisher: Palgrave Macmilian All outputs in CentAUR are protected by Intellectual Property Rights law, including copyright law. Copyright and IPR is retained by the creators or other copyright holders. Terms and conditions for use of this material are defined in the End User Agreement . www.reading.ac.uk/centaur CentAUR Central Archive at the University of Reading Reading’s research outputs online 13 Environmental and Ecological Justice Chukwumerije Okereke and Mark Charlesworth Introduction Justice is a central theme in international environmental politics (IEP). In fact, one of the most distinctive contributions of IEP to the broader International Relations (IR) scholarship and discourse is arguably the firm insertion and elevation of questions of distributive justice. It is broadly accepted that justice occupies a central position in Western moral political philosophy. Hume (1975) described justice as the most important virtue of social relations and political institutions. St Augustine (1467/2003: 139) considered that the very legitimacy of a state lays on its claim to do justice.
    [Show full text]