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Environmental Ethics: Readings in Theory and Application » (5th Edition)

Book cover image of Environmental Ethics: Readings in Theory and Application by Louis P. Pojman

Authors: Louis P. Pojman, Paul Pojman
ISBN-13: 9780495095033, ISBN-10: 0495095036
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Cengage Learning
Date Published: March 2007
Edition: 5th Edition

Author Biography: Louis P. Pojman

Louis P. Pojman (1935-2005) was Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, at the United States Military Academy and a Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University. He received an M.A. and Ph.D. from Union Theological Seminary/Columbia University and a D. Phil. from Oxford University. He wrote in the areas of philosophy of religion, epistemology, ethics, and political philosophy and is the author or editor of more than 30 books and 100 articles. Among these are ETHICS: DISCOVERING RIGHT AND WRONG (6/e 2009), ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS (5/e 2008), WHO ARE WE? (2005), and GLOBAL POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY (2003).

Paul Pojman completed his Ph. D. at Indiana University, in the department of History and Philosophy of Science. He is currently Assistant Professor at Towson University in the Philosophy Department, and Associated Faculty with the Environmental Studies and Science Programs.

Book Synopsis

The 82 articles collected in this moral philosophy reader present divergent points of view regarding the Western philosophy of nature, preservation of species and natural objects, obligations to future generations, pollution, pesticides, the Greenhouse Effect, economic analysis, global justice, and sustainable societies. No index is provided. The fourth edition adds 12 articles on ecorealism, world hunger, population, and city life. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Booknews

In this new edition of a text for undergraduates, Pojman (philosophy, U.S. Military Academy in West Point) presents 81 readings covering topics such as animal rights, world hunger, the intrinsic value of nature, biocentric and ecocentric ethics, deep ecology, ecofeminism, and the Gaia hypothesis. Readings are presented in a pro/con format. No index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

	Preface	vii
	Introduction
	On Ethics and Environmental Concerns	1
	What Is Ethics?	3
Part 1	Theory	5
Chapter 1	Western Philosophy of Nature: The Roots of Our Ecological Situation	10
1	Genesis 1-3	11
2	The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis	13
3	The Cultural Basis of Our Environmental Crisis	19
4	The Judeo-Christian Stewardship Attitude to Nature	24
Chapter 2	Animal Rights	29
5	Rational Beings Alone Have Moral Worth	31
6	A Utilitarian Defense of Animal Liberation	33
7	The Radical Egalitarian Case for Animal Rights	40
8	A Critique of Regan's Animal Rights Theory	46
9	Animal Liberation: A Triangular Affair	51
10	What Animal Liberation Is and Isn't About	62
11	Against Zoos	69
Chapter 3	Does Nature Have Intrinsic Value? Biocentric and Ecocentric Ethics and Deep Ecology	75
	Does Nature Have Intrinsic Value?	76
12	Naturalizing Values: Organisms and Species	76
13	Comments of Holmes Rolston's "Naturalizing Values"	86
14	Nature	89
	Biocentric Ethics	95
15	Reverence for Life	95
16	Biocentric Egalitarianism	100
17	On Being Morally Considerable	112
	Ecocentric Ethics	119
18	Ecocentrism: The Land Ethic	119
19	The Conceptual Foundations of the Land Ethic	126
20	Refocusing Ecocentrism: De-emphasizing Stability and Defending Wildness	136
	Deep Ecology	147
21	The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecological Movement	147
22	Ecosophy T: Deep Versus Shallow Ecology	150
23	Deep Ecology	157
24	A Critique of Anti-Anthropocentric Ethics	162
25	Social Ecology Versus Deep Ecology	168
26	Ecological Sensibility	176
27	Environmental Justice: Reconciling Anthropocentric and Nonanthropocentric Ethics	179
Chapter 4	Ecofeminism and Deep Ecology	189
28	The Power and the Promise of Ecological Feminism	189
29	A Critique of Ecofeminism	199
Chapter 5	Preservation of the Species, Nature, and Natural Objects	205
30	Biodiversity: The Key to Saving Life on Earth	206
31	Why Do Species Matter?	208
32	The Golden Rule--A Proper Scale for Our Environmental Crisis	214
33	What's Wrong with Plastic Trees?	218
34	Faking Nature	229
35	The Call of the Wild: The Struggle Against Domination and the Technological Fix of Nature	235
36	Should Trees Have Standing? Toward Legal Rights for Natural Objects	240
Chapter 6	Non-Western Perspectives on Environmental Ethics	249
37	Satyagraha for Conservation: Awakening the Spirit of Hinduism	250
38	The Buddhist Attitude Towards Nature	256
39	Islamic Environmental Ethics, Law, and Society	260
40	An African Perspective on the Environmental Crisis	265
41	Radical Environmentalism and Wilderness Preservation: A Third World Critique	271
Chapter 7	Obligations to Future Generations	278
42	Who Cares for Posterity?	278
43	Limited Obligations to Future Generations	284
44	Energy Policy and the Further Future: The Identity Problem	289
Part 2	Practice	297
	Introduction	298
Chapter 8	Population: General Considerations	299
45	A Special Moment in History: The Challenge of Overpopulation and Overconsumption	302
46	The Tragedy of the Commons	311
47	The Central Immigration Issue: How Many Americans?	318
48	The Unjust War Against Population	331
49	China's Baby Budget	341
50	Licensing Parents	348
Chapter 9	Population and World Hunger	355
51	Lifeboat Ethics	356
52	Population and Food: A Critique of Lifeboat Ethics	363
53	Famine, Affluence, and Morality	367
54	Vegetarianism and "the Other Weight Problem"	373
55	The World Food Supply: The Damage Done by Cattle-Raising	380
Chapter 10	Pollution: General Considerations	384
56	You Are What You Breathe	386
57	We All Live in Bhopal	391
58	Against the Doomsdayers!	395
59	People or Penguins: The Case for Optimal Pollution	404
Chapter 11	Pesticides	408
60	Silent Spring	409
61	The Blessings of Pesticides	413
62	Environmental Hysteria: The Alar Scare	417
63	Is Silent Spring Behind Us?	426
Chapter 12	Atmospheric Conditions: The Greenhouse Effect and the Ozone Layer	431
64	The Heat Is On: The Greenhouse Effect	432
65	The Greenhouse Effect: Hype and Hysteria	439
Chapter 13	Economics, Ethics, and the Environment	447
66	Of the Stationary State	452
67	Sustainable Development: Economic Myths and Ecological Realities	455
68	Consumption: The Economics of Value Added and the Ethics of Value Distributed	461
69	At the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, or Why Political Questions Are Not All Economic	467
70	A Defense of Risk-Cost-Benefit Analysis	474
71	Neoclassical Economics and Principles of Sustainable Development	482
Chapter 14	Ecology and Global Justice	489
72	The Rio Declaration (1992)	489
73	Just Garbage	492
74	Deceiving the Third World: The Myth of Catching-up Development	499
Chapter 15	From Dysfunctional to Sustainable Society	505
75	Dysfunctional Civilization	506
76	Environmental Risks, Rights, and the Failure of Liberal Democracy	515
77	Environmental Ethics and Democracy: A Response to Westra	528
78	An Ecological Critique of Global Advertising	533
79	Pedaling Power: Sustainable Transportation	539
80	Strategic Monkeywrenching	542
81	Vision of a Sustainable World	545

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