DOCSLIB.ORG

Durham E-Theses

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Durham E-Theses Durham E-Theses Environmental Rights MCKINNELL, ELIZABETH,MARY How to cite: MCKINNELL, ELIZABETH,MARY (2010) Environmental Rights, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/261/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk Introduction The idea for this thesis grew out of a dichotomy in the way that environmental problems are often discussed. Politically, there is an increasing demand that we frame environmental problems in the language of rights and justice, with ‗environmental rights‘ forming the content of declarations and bills of rights. This appears to clash with a view presented by some environmental philosophers that the language of rights is simply not up to the task of addressing environmental problems. It is claimed that the way that we characterise individual rights is part of the problem, not part of the solution. This is because rights are often formulated from an individualistic and overly humanistic stance which will not enable us to see beyond the concerns of white western human individuals. Each of these views has a certain appeal. The everyday language of rights has a nuance of importance and urgency. It is one thing to say that we ought to protect the environment for the sake of the inhabitants of this planet, but to say that those inhabitants have a right that action should be taken sounds like a call to arms. This particular ‗ought‘ makes a special kind of moral and political demand that cannot be ignored. Rights have been employed to good effect in many struggles for equality, freedom and recognition, and it may appear that they should be employed in this way once again, especially when the scale of right-violations that might occur appears to be so great. Related to this is the fact that many environmental problems affect some communities and geographical areas to a greater extent than others. The inhabitants of some areas of Africa will probably experience the impact of climate change in a much more devastating way than the inhabitants of some areas of Europe. This suggests that the demands of justice call upon us to address these problems. Not to do so would be to exploit certain groups of people for our own material comfort, and to deny 1 them their right to equal treatment, or to the kind of liberty that they would require to lead flourishing lives. This would suggest both that rights are an indispensible element of the way that we articulate environmental concerns, and that they could be a powerful tool in environmental activism. The opposing view is also compelling. It might be suggested that we cannot address the environmental problems without looking to their root causes, and that one such cause is a dominant ideology based on putting the human individual ahead of community and global concerns, and ahead of our responsibility to other creatures, ecosystems and the planet. It might then be said that if the concept of rights is necessarily bound up with such a world- view, then we cannot properly address environmental concerns unless we either jettison the role of rights altogether or give them a much more minor role than they currently play in moral and political deliberation. There is a popular view in the field of environmental ethics that many conventional moral theories such as utilitarianism, Kantianism and so on are not the appropriate tools for considering the interaction between mankind and the natural environment. Instead, many environmental ethicists seek to employ ways of talking about our relationship with the world that are less humanistic, individualistic and anthropocentric. Rights theories occupy much of the same ground as these conventional moral theories, often epitomising the features that many environmental ethicists critique. They are generally centred on human activity and moral status (some theories do this more than others, as we shall see) and are usually concerned with the relationships between individual human beings with respect to aspects of the world, rather than with relationships between people and the natural world. As right-holders, people are to an extent alienated or set apart from other features of the planet, something which apparently contradicts the holistic nature of environmental ethics. Thus a consideration of the compatibility of rights-theories and 2 environmental ethics might lead to further things we can say about the general question of which types of moral theory can properly be applied to environmental questions. Purpose and Methods The objective of this thesis is to examine moral and political environmental issues in the context of rights, particularly moral or natural rights. The central question will be whether anyone can have a right to a particular kind of environment or minimal environmental standard. I will also consider which beings (if any) can have their moral demands articulated in this way. While I am largely concerned with the idea of moral rights, I hold that when we employ rights-talk, the moral and the political cannot be fully extricated from each other. This is partly down to the history of rights, which gives them a distinctive dual moral and political character, and partly that when dealing with issues of widespread moral concern, the moral is rarely entirely separable from the political. However, I will not look in detail at the task of implementing such rights through political and constitutional systems. My interest is rather in the underlying justifications of such rights and how they should be articulated. I aim as far as possible to remain neutral between different moral theories, since working within a particular theory would significantly narrow the application of the thesis. The methods used also do not strictly conform to any one school or style of philosophy. In much of this thesis a broadly analytic approach is applied to the questions that are being considered, but in other places different approaches are appropriate, both in terms of the method employed and the sources used. I would argue that were we to adhere too rigidly to one approach, there is a danger that adherents of opposing views would often simply ‗speak past each other‘ and fail to engage with the substantive issues upon which they differ. Chapter One A large portion of the first part of the thesis will be historical in character, examining the development of the various theories of rights that exist today. The first chapter will be 3 concerned with the early history of rights theories and their development into a form roughly equivalent to modern-day theories. I will say a little more at the start of the chapter about why this approach is justified, arguing that we must have some understanding of the historical origins of rights theories in order to understand what purpose they serve and how they should be understood in the present day. I also address some of the difficulties with taking such an approach. In this chapter I identify some prominent features that we can see in many theories of rights, and trace their emergence. One of the major conclusions of this chapter is that the concept of rights is broad, varied and dynamic. It would therefore be a mistake to consider the question of environmental rights in terms of one narrow conception of what a right can be. We must therefore adopt the considerably more ambitious task of examining the possibility of environmental rights of many different kinds, even accepting the possibility that new ideological challenges may prompt further developments and refinements of the concept of a right. Chapter Two Chapter two moves on to look at two of the famous critiques of rights, offered by Jeremy Bentham and Karl Marx. I argue that the objection that rights have no foundation because there is no natural lawgiver would require more justification than we can find in the works of Bentham, but that it does raise important questions about whether there can be a natural basis to rights that I engage with later in the thesis. Marx‘s claim that they are a socially divisive force is in many ways more of an obstruction, especially to the project of assigning environmental rights. This leaves us with a number of options. One would be to go against Marx and claim that the individual must be the sole locus of concern, while another would be to modify our theory of rights so that it can account for the rights of groups. A final option 4 would be to apply different moral concepts alongside rights in a way that might account for the value of community and collective goods. Chapter Three Chapter three is largely an outline of some of the forms that more recent theories of rights have taken. This is necessary in order to furnish us with the detail we need when applying these theories to environmental problems. While the notion of moral rights has been around for a very long time, it is only really in the twentieth century that rights were integrated into rigorous and complex formulations.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Postgraduate/Distance Learning Assignment Coversheet & Feedback Form
    Postgraduate/Distance Learning Assignment coversheet & feedback form THIS SHEET MUST BE THE FIRST PAGE OF THE ASSIGNMENT YOU ARE SUBMITTING (DO NOT SEND AS A SEPARATE FILE) For completion by the student: Student Name: SAMANTHA JANE HOLLAND Student University Email: [email protected] Module code: Student ID number: Educational support needs: 1001693 Yes/No Module title: DISSERTATION Assignment title: OTHAs AND ENVIRONMENT IN ANIMAL ETHICS AND ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY: ONTOLOGY AND ETHICAL MOTIVATION BEYOND THE DICHOTOMIES OF ANTHROPOCENTRISM Assignment due date: 2 April 2013 This assignment is for the 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th module of the degree N/A Word count: 22,000 WORDS I confirm that this is my original work and that I have adhered to the University policy on plagiarism. Signed …………………………………………………………… Assignment Mark 1st Marker’s Provisional mark 2nd Marker’s/Moderator’s provisional mark External Examiner’s mark (if relevant) Final Mark NB. All marks are provisional until confirmed by the Final Examination Board. For completion by Marker 1 : Comments: Marker’s signature: Date: For completion by Marker 2/Moderator: Comments: Marker’s Signature: Date: External Examiner’s comments (if relevant) External Examiner’s Signature: Date: ii OTHAs AND ENVIRONMENT IN ANIMAL ETHICS AND ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY: ONTOLOGY AND ETHICAL MOTIVATION BEYOND THE DICHOTOMIES OF ANTHROPOCENTRISM Samantha Jane Holland March 2013 Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MA Nature University of Wales, Trinity Saint David Master’s Degrees by Examination and Dissertation Declaration Form. 1. This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree.
    [Show full text]
  • The Scope of the Argument from Species Overlap
    bs_bs_banner Journal of Applied Philosophy,Vol.31, No. 2, 2014 doi: 10.1111/japp.12051 The Scope of the Argument from Species Overlap OSCAR HORTA ABSTRACT The argument from species overlap has been widely used in the literature on animal ethics and speciesism. However, there has been much confusion regarding what the argument proves and what it does not prove, and regarding the views it challenges.This article intends to clarify these confusions, and to show that the name most often used for this argument (‘the argument from marginal cases’) reflects and reinforces these misunderstandings.The article claims that the argument questions not only those defences of anthropocentrism that appeal to capacities believed to be typically human, but also those that appeal to special relations between humans. This means the scope of the argument is far wider than has been thought thus far. Finally, the article claims that, even if the argument cannot prove by itself that we should not disregard the interests of nonhuman animals, it provides us with strong reasons to do so, since the argument does prove that no defence of anthropocentrism appealing to non-definitional and testable criteria succeeds. 1. Introduction The argument from species overlap, which has also been called — misleadingly, I will argue — the argument from marginal cases, points out that the criteria that are com- monly used to deprive nonhuman animals of moral consideration fail to draw a line between human beings and other sentient animals, since there are also humans who fail to satisfy them.1 This argument has been widely used in the literature on animal ethics for two purposes.
    [Show full text]
  • PHIL 221 – Ethical Theory (3 Credits) Course Description
    PHIL 221 – Ethical Theory (3 credits) Course Description: This course focuses on theories of morality rather than on contemporary moral issues (that is the topic of PHIL 120). That means that we will primarily be preoccupied with exploring what it means for an action—or a person—to be “good”. We will attempt to answer this question by looking at a mix of historical and contemporary texts primarily drawn from the Western European tradition, but also including some works from China and pre-colonial central America. We will begin by asking whether there are any universal and objectively valid moral rules, and chart several attempts to answer in both the affirmative and the negative: relativism, egoism, virtue ethics, consequentialism, deontology, the ethics of care, and contractarianism. We will consider the relationship between morality and the law, and whether morality is linked to human happiness. Finally, we will consider arguments for and against the idea that moral facts actually exist. Schedule of Readings Week 1 Introduction What are we trying to do? Charles L. Stevenson – The Nature of Ethical Disagreement Tom Regan – How Not to Answer Moral Questions Week 2 Relativism What counts as good depends on the moral standards of the group doing the evaluating. Mary Midgley – Trying Out One’s New Sword Martha Nussbaum – Judging Other Cultures: The Case of Genital Mutilation Plato – The Myth of Gyges (Republic II) Week 3 Egoism What’s good is just what’s good for me. Mencius – Mengzi (excerpts) James Rachels – Egoism and Moral Skepticism Week 4 Virtue Ethics Morality depends on having a virtuous character.
    [Show full text]
  • Review Of" Science and Poetry" by M. Midgley
    Swarthmore College Works Philosophy Faculty Works Philosophy 10-1-2003 Review Of "Science And Poetry" By M. Midgley Hans Oberdiek Swarthmore College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-philosophy Part of the Philosophy Commons Let us know how access to these works benefits ouy Recommended Citation Hans Oberdiek. (2003). "Review Of "Science And Poetry" By M. Midgley". Ethics. Volume 114, Issue 1. 187-189. DOI: 10.1086/376710 https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-philosophy/121 This work is brought to you for free by Swarthmore College Libraries' Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philosophy Faculty Works by an authorized administrator of Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Mary Midgley, Science and Poetry Science and Poetry by Mary. Midgley, Review by: Reviewed by Hans Oberdiek Ethics, Vol. 114, No. 1 (October 2003), pp. 187-189 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/376710 . Accessed: 09/06/2015 16:15 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Ethics.
    [Show full text]
  • Jm Coetzee and Animal Rights
    J.M. COETZEE AND ANIMAL RIGHTS: ELIZABETH COSTELLO’S CHALLENGE TO PHILOSOPHY Richard Alan Northover SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE FACULTY OF HUMANITIES UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA PRETORIA, 0002, SOUTH AFRICA Supervisor: Professor David Medalie OCTOBER 2009 © University of Pretoria Abstract The thesis relates Coetzee’s focus on animals to his more familiar themes of the possibility of fiction as a vehicle for serious ethical issues, the interrogation of power and authority, a concern for the voiceless and the marginalised, a keen sense of justice and the question of secular salvation. The concepts developed in substantial analyses of The Lives of Animals and Disgrace are thereafter applied to several other works of Coetzee. The thesis attempts to position J.M. Coetzee within the animal rights debate and to assess his use of his problematic persona, Elizabeth Costello, who controversially uses reason to attack the rationalism of the Western philosophical tradition and who espouses the sympathetic imagination as a means of developing respect for animals. Costello’s challenge to the philosophers is problematised by being traced back to Plato’s original formulation of the opposition between philosophers and poets. It is argued that Costello represents a fallible Socratic figure who critiques not reason per se but an unqualified rationalism. This characterisation of Costello explains her preoccupation with raising the ethical awareness of her audience, as midwife to the birth of ideas, and perceptions of her as a wise fool, a characterisation that is confirmed by the use of Bakhtin’s notion of the Socratic dialogue as one of the precursors of the modern novel.
    [Show full text]
  • Public Health Ethics
    Cambridge Books Online http://ebooks.cambridge.org/ Public Health Ethics Key Concepts and Issues in Policy and Practice Edited by Angus Dawson Book DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511862670 Online ISBN: 9780511862670 Hardback ISBN: 9780521868976 Paperback ISBN: 9780521689366 Chapter 9 - Environment, ethics and public health pp. 154-173 Chapter DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511862670.010 Cambridge University Press Section 2 Issues Chapter Environment, ethics and public health 9 The climate change dilemma Anthony Kessel and Carolyn Stephens In this chapter we explore the relationship between the environment, ethics and public health (Kessel, 2006). To do this we take the theme of climate change and public health (with climate representing the natural environment), and we examine the relationship between our climatic environment and public health ethics. We illustrate the changing relationship between public health and the environment, and examine the place of ethics in the relationship between the environment and public health. In particular, we critique the status of utilitarianism as a moral foundation for public health. The importance of environ- mental justice, environmental philosophy and development ethics to the future of public health are discussed. Background: definitions and methods As an introduction to this chapter it is important to refer to some difficulties around definitions, and also to briefly describe the methods used. To philosophers definitions are often key to their debates. For one philosopher in particular, Ludwig Wittgenstein, issues to do with definitions are at the root of all philosophical problems (Elliott, 2001). A look at the words used in the title of this chapter readily illustrates the challenges of writing on this topic.
    [Show full text]
  • Mary Midgley [Moral Philosopher] “The Shape of Our Imagination Determines the Kind of Scientific Theories We Can Hold.”
    MARY MIDGLEY [MORAL PHILOSOPHER] “THE SHAPE OF OUR IMAGINATION DETERMINES THE KIND OF SCIENTIFIC THEORIES WE CAN HOLD.” Misconceptions: Darwinism as savage competition Consciousness as epiphenomenon Humans as machines ary Midgley lives in a small cot- scourge of scien tific pretension.” tagelike house several hours outside In recent years, she has found herself engaged in fierce of London in Newcastle upon Tyne, public battles with Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett, a university town where she was over what she deems to be their ideological approach to the previously a senior lecturer in phi- story of evolution. When I visited, she was working on a pam- Mlosophy (she’s now retired), and where she wrote her influen- phlet for teachers in British schools, to help explain the evolu- tial books of moral philosophy. She published her first book, tion v. creationism debate. Beast and Man, in 1978, when she was fifty-six. This was Midgley is a tall, formidable woman. I arrived at her followed by eleven others, including Wickedness (1984), home by train at four in the afternoon, and though I would Evolution as a Religion (1985), Science and Poetry be staying overnight, she requested that we begin the inter- (2001), and a memoir, The Owl of Minerva (2005). view immediately. We spoke for an hour and a half, after Recently, Routledge has been re-releasing her major works which she grew tired. Then she cooked us a vegetarian dinner. and has compiled a companion volume, edited by one of her When I followed her into the kitchen and asked if sons: The Essential Mary Midgley.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethics, a Very Short Introduction
    Ethics: A Very Short Introduction ‘This little book is an admirable introduction to its alarming subject: sane, thoughtful, sensitive and lively’ Mary Midgley, Times Higher Education Supplement ‘sparkling clear’ Guardian ‘wonderfully concise, direct and to the point’ Times Literary Supplement ‘plays lightly and gracefully over . philosophical themes, including the relationship between good and living well.’ New Yorker Very Short Introductions are for anyone wanting a stimulating and accessible way in to a new subject. They are written by experts, and have been published in more than 25 languages worldwide. The series began in 1995, and now represents a wide variety of topics in history, philosophy, religion, science, and the humanities. Over the next few years it will grow to a library of around 200 volumes – a Very Short Introduction to everything from ancient Egypt and Indian philosophy to conceptual art and cosmology. Very Short Introductions available now: ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY Continental Philosophy Julia Annas Simon Critchley THE ANGLO-SAXON AGE COSMOLOGY Peter Coles John Blair CRYPTOGRAPHY ANIMAL RIGHTS David DeGrazia Fred Piper and Sean Murphy ARCHAEOLOGY Paul Bahn DADA AND SURREALISM ARCHITECTURE David Hopkins Andrew Ballantyne Darwin Jonathan Howard ARISTOTLE Jonathan Barnes Democracy Bernard Crick ART HISTORY Dana Arnold DESCARTES Tom Sorell ART THEORY Cynthia Freeland DRUGS Leslie Iversen THE HISTORY OF THE EARTH Martin Redfern ASTRONOMY Michael Hoskin EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY Atheism Julian Baggini Geraldine Pinch Augustine Henry
    [Show full text]
  • Animal Umwelten in a Changing World
    Tartu Semiotics Library 18 Tartu Tartu Semiotics Library 18 Animal umwelten in a changing world: Zoosemiotic perspectives represents a clear and concise review of zoosemiotics, present- ing theories, models and methods, and providing interesting examples of human–animal interactions. The reader is invited to explore the umwelten of animals in a successful attempt to retrieve the relationship of people with animals: a cornerstone of the past common evolutionary processes. The twelve chapters, which cover recent developments in zoosemiotics and much more, inspire the reader to think about the human condition and about ways to recover our lost contact with the animal world. Written in a clear, concise style, this collection of articles creates a wonderful bridge between Timo Maran, Morten Tønnessen, human and animal worlds. It represents a holistic approach Kristin Armstrong Oma, rich with suggestions for how to educate people to face the dynamic relationships with nature within the conceptual Laura Kiiroja, Riin Magnus, framework of the umwelt, providing stimulus and opportuni- Nelly Mäekivi, Silver Rattasepp, ties to develop new studies in zoosemiotics. Professor Almo Farina, CHANGING WORLD A IN UMWELTEN ANIMAL Paul Thibault, Kadri Tüür University of Urbino “Carlo Bo” This important book offers the first coherent gathering of perspectives on the way animals are communicating with each ANIMAL UMWELTEN other and with us as environmental change requires increasing adaptation. Produced by a young generation of zoosemiotics scholars engaged in international research programs at Tartu, IN A CHANGING this work introduces an exciting research field linking the biological sciences with the humanities. Its key premises are that all animals participate in a dynamic web of meanings WORLD: and signs in their own distinctive styles, and all animal spe- cies have distinctive cultures.
    [Show full text]
  • Justice and Non-Human Animals
    Bangladesh Journal of Bioethics 2016; 7(3): 1-11 Original article Justice and Non-Human Animals Robin Attfield 1 and Rebekah Humphreys 2 1. Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Cardiff University, Email: [email protected] 2. Lecturer in Philosophy, Trinity St. David’s University, Email: [email protected] Part I Abstract: It is widely held that moral obligations to non-human beings do not involve considerations of justice. For such a view, nonhuman interests are always prone to be trumped by human interests. Rawlsian contractarianism comprises an example of such a view. Through analysis of such theories, this essay highlights the problem of reconciling the claim that humans have obligations to non-humans with the claim that our treatment of the latter is not a matter of justice. We argue that if it is granted that the basic interests of non- human beings sometimes count for more than the peripheral interests of humans, then our understandings of obligation and of justice must be aligned, so that what we say about obligation is not countered by assumptions about the invariable priority of humans in matters of justice. We further consider whether such a conclusion can be endorsed by those who adopt certain alternative theories to contractarianism. We conclude that adherents of a range of theories including sentientism and biocentrism must accept that human interests can sometimes be superseded by animal interests, and that this applies not least in matters of justice. Keywords : justice, contractarianism, animal interests, moral theory, Rawls, moral agency Note: This essay is being published in two parts, Part I in the current number and Part II in the next number (BJB 2017, vol.
    [Show full text]
  • Political Theory and the Animal/Human Relationship 1St Edition Ebook
    POLITICAL THEORY AND THE ANIMAL/HUMAN RELATIONSHIP 1ST EDITION PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Grant Jungkunz | 9781438459882 | | | | | Political Theory and the Animal/Human Relationship 1st edition PDF Book The Oxford Handbook of Animal Studies. Dombrowski was quoted as saying that the "book will be welcomed by all who are interested in the relationship between non-human animals and political theory, a relationship that has been underexplored by scholars. In the final chapter Cochrane argues that each school has an important contribution to make to animal justice, particularly liberalism and utilitarianism. Both of these conceptions of political justice are mistaken in Aristotle's view, because they assume a false conception of the ultimate end of the city-state. This leads to the criticism that judging the best consequences is an extremely difficult task for political communities, but Cochrane concludes that a utilitarian consensus does at least support the abolition of factory farming. Reidel, , pp. Humanities Geisteswissenschaft Human science. Thompson and David M. Brooks and James Bernard Murphy eds. Aristotle explores the implications of this argument in the remainder of Politics III, considering the rival claims of the rule of law and the rule of a supremely virtuous individual. Rasmussen, Douglas B. Adams 's argument that the connection of meat-eating and masculinity serves to oppress both women and animals, meaning that the liberation of both depends upon the end of meat-eating. Archived from the original on 16 December Keyt, David, and Fred D. Historical Social Research 40 4 : 7— Its focus on welfare and sentience , and its egalitarian nature, allow the extension of justice to animals.
    [Show full text]
  • A Defense of a Sentiocentric Approach to Environmental Ethics
    University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 8-2012 Minding Nature: A Defense of a Sentiocentric Approach to Environmental Ethics Joel P. MacClellan University of Tennessee, Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation MacClellan, Joel P., "Minding Nature: A Defense of a Sentiocentric Approach to Environmental Ethics. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2012. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/1433 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Joel P. MacClellan entitled "Minding Nature: A Defense of a Sentiocentric Approach to Environmental Ethics." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Philosophy. John Nolt, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Jon Garthoff, David Reidy, Dan Simberloff Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) MINDING NATURE: A DEFENSE OF A SENTIOCENTRIC APPROACH TO ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Joel Patrick MacClellan August 2012 ii The sedge is wither’d from the lake, And no birds sing.
    [Show full text]