Environmental Philosophy

Two Arguments against Biological Interests

by Aaron Simmons

Published in Environmental Ethics, Fall 2010

According to biocentrism, all living organisms have interests in the fulfillment of their biological functions and,... more According to biocentrism, all living organisms have interests in the fulfillment of their biological functions and, therefore, they are deserving of moral respect. I suggest there are two reasons why we ought to reject the idea of biological interests. First, it implies a metaphysically mysterious account of interests. Second, it implies that what is good for humans is partly determined by things external to themselves, independent of their capacities for desires. This conflicts with the ideal of self-direction, according to which it is desirable that how we ought to live is grounded in one's own capacity for desires. It is still an open possibility, however, that nonsentient life forms are morally considerable in the sense of having intrinsic value.

Do Animals Have an Interest in Continued Life? In Defense of a Desire-Based Approach

by Aaron Simmons

Published in Environmental Ethics, Winter 2009

Do we harm animals if we painlessly kill them? The idea that animals are harmed by death faces the challenge that... more Do we harm animals if we painlessly kill them? The idea that animals are harmed by death faces the challenge that animals lack self-awareness and, therefore, are incapable of valuing their own continued lives. Some people object that death harms animals because it forecloses their future opportunities for pleasure. However, this argument is problematic because it's unclear why animals' future opportunities have value for them if they are incapable of caring about them. A more promising argument holds that many animals have an interest in life insofar as they have certain enjoyments in life, where animals' enjoyments are best understood not merely as fleeting experiences but rather as dispositional desires that animals continue to have over time.

Animals, Predators, the Right to Life, and the Duty to Save Lives

by Aaron Simmons

Published in Ethics and the Environment, Spring 2009

One challenge to the idea that animals have a moral right to life claims that any such right would require us to... more One challenge to the idea that animals have a moral right to life claims that any such right would require us to intervene in the wild to prevent animals from being killed by predators. I argue that belief in an animal right to life does not commit us to supporting a program of predator-prey intervention. One common retort to the predator challenge contends that we are not required to save animals from predators because predators are not moral agents. This retort fails to overcome the predator challenge. I aim to articulate a more satisfactory argument explaining why we are not required to save wild prey from predators even if animals have a basic right to life.

Wilderness, Wasteland and Homeland: Comments on Drenthen

by Nathan Kowalsky

published in 'Ethical Perspectives,' 2007

Judging a place as wasteland or homeland is not a matter of objective fact, but a matter of perspective: presupposed... more Judging a place as wasteland or homeland is not a matter of objective fact, but a matter of perspective: presupposed values, knowledge through acquaintance, and comportment. Therefore, contra Martin Drenthen, the value of wilderness is a judgement call, not a conceptual necessity. I show this by first distinguishing wilderness from “wildness,” then culture from civilization, and finally, by situating Nietzsche’s teachings of the will to power in the context of a devalued world-view. Nevertheless, I agree with Drenthen that some understandings of wilderness are more appropriate than others. When wild nature is understood to be “good” in an axiologically transcendent sense, morality and humanness per se are not undermined, and the transcendence of wildness is still sufficiently immanent to avoid the drive to devalue it. Even thought such conceptualisation can be attained by civilized urbanites, it seems to be optimally actualised in life by non-civilised cultures. This leads to implications that are not easy for us to accept, but deserve our serious consideration nonetheless.

Material Ecocriticism: Materiality, Agency, and Models of Narrativity

by Serenella Iovino

Co-authored with Serpil Oppermann.
Published in Ecozon@: European Journal of Literature, Culture and Environment, Vol 3, No 1 (2012)

The proliferation of studies bearing on the intellectual movement known as the "new materialisms" evinces... more The proliferation of studies bearing on the intellectual movement known as the "new materialisms" evinces that a material turn is becoming an important paradigm in environmental humanities. Ranging from social and science studies, feminism, to anthropology, geography, environmental philosophies and animal studies, this approach is bringing innovative ways of considering matter and material relations that, coupled with reflections on agency, text, and narrativity, are going to impact ecocriticism in an unprecedented way.
In consideration of the relevance of this debate, we would like to draw for Ecozon@'s readers an introductory map of the new paradigm and introduce what can be called "material ecocriticism." We will illustrate what we consider to be its main features, situating them in the conceptual horizons of the new materialisms. From this genealogical sketch, we will examine the re-definitions of concepts like matter, agency, discursivity, and intentionality, with regard to their effects on ecocriticism and in terms of their ethical perspectives.

Natur, Umwelt, Geist - eine umfassende Kontinuität

by Kari Väyrynen

Abstract for the XXIX. Internationaler Hegel-Kongress, Istanbul 3.-6.10. 2012

Отражение экологической политики Индии и Китая в научном и общественно-политическом дискурсе [Reflexions of Indian and Chinese environmental policies in scientific and socio-political discourse]

by Ivan Sablin

published in Terra Humana: Общество, Среда, Развитие, no. 3, 2011, pp. 204–208.

Перед Китаем и Индией сегодня стоит сложная задача решения экологических проблем. Усилия правительств в данном... more Перед Китаем и Индией сегодня стоит сложная задача решения экологических проблем. Усилия правительств в данном направлении рассматриваются представителями научных и общественно-политических кругов двух стран как неэффективные, хотя в целом КНР добилась некоторых успехов. В научной литературе и в прессе предлагается целый ряд рекомендаций по совершенствованию экологической политики двух стран. Именно им и посвящена настоящая статья.

Biological Interests, Normative Functions, and Synthetic Biology

by Sune Holm

Review of David E. Cooper, 'Convergence with Nature: A Daoist Perspective'

by Ian James Kidd

Forthcoming in Environmental Values.

There is much to admire in Cooper’s elegant and insightful book. It offers a sustained account of how Daoism can help... more There is much to admire in Cooper’s elegant and insightful book. It offers a sustained account of how Daoism can help to inform our understanding of our own engagement with nature, and a way of achieving, or regaining, ‘convergence with nature’.

Pragmatism as an Origin of Philosophical Species

by Zachary Piso

Presented at the 2012 SAAP Conference, Fordham University

Reconstructs Dewey's notion of growth through dialogue with ecological investigations of resilience. Argues that... more Reconstructs Dewey's notion of growth through dialogue with ecological investigations of resilience. Argues that ecological inquiry can reveal axioms that sustain the biotic community's adaptation to precarious situations.

Place and Pedagogy: Toward an Embodied Environmental Conscience

by Zachary Piso

Presented at the Phi Sigma Tau conference at University of North Texas, 2011

Explores the implications of extended consciousness toward the teaching of environmental sustainable habits. Careful... more Explores the implications of extended consciousness toward the teaching of environmental sustainable habits. Careful attention to the built environment can foster an ecological conscience without requiring an intermediate environmental literacy.

Gaian Economics: Beyond the Fatal Conceit

by Zachary Piso

Presented at the International Association for Environmental Philosophy, GeoAesthetics Conference, 2010.

A critique of free market environmentalism drawing on the conceptual resources of libertarian economist Friedrich von... more A critique of free market environmentalism drawing on the conceptual resources of libertarian economist Friedrich von Hayek. Argues that market forces will not produce sustainable communities without the participation of those non-human organisms with which human communities are interdependent.

Culture and Creature: A Pragmatic Defense of Interspecies Cosmopolitanism

by Zachary Piso

Published in "The Hemlock Papers", 2010

Too often, the current environmental crisis is misunderstood as the clash between a static human nature and the... more Too often, the current environmental crisis is misunderstood as the clash between a static human nature and the surrounding natural world. Rather, human behavior is less a product of inherent psychology but instead inculcated through the habits we express and imitate. Drawing heavily on pragmatic philosophy, this work explores where our habits originate, why they must be changed, and what information we must draw on to reconstruct new habits as plain members and citizens of the biotic community. Our predicament is compared to a state of extreme prejudice, in particular the segregation and exploitation of non-whites throughout America‟s history. The parallels between diversity and biodiversity are frequently understated, and habits that embrace and explicate differences are conducive to growth in the Deweyan sense. The paper concludes with consideration of two important habits, based on Goethean science and Leopold‟s land ethic, which promote an interspecies cosmopolitanism capable of sustained adaptation.

Ecological Pragmatism: Growing a Sustainable World (Undergraduate Honors Thesis)

by Zachary Piso

A consideration of evolutionary processes in nature, mind, and culture. The work seeks to synthesize these different... more A consideration of evolutionary processes in nature, mind, and culture. The work seeks to synthesize these different domains of natural selection in order to defend an embodied approach to ecological education that recognizes our development in a social and ecological world.

Food, Waste, and the American Way: A Merleau-Pontyian Response

by Joseph Spencer

Written when I was a grad student. Published in "Kinesis," 38.2 (Fall 2011)

In this paper I argue that America’s current national food policy, as well as our overall attitudes towards food, is... more In this paper I argue that America’s current national food policy, as well as our overall attitudes towards food, is extremely wasteful and harms our health and the health of our environment. I argue that the primary reason we find ourselves in this predicament is that we have lost our sense of place in nature, and no longer retain a sense of closeness in our relationship with the environment around us. In response I argue that the notion of "the flesh," as articulated by Maurice Merleau-Ponty in his work, "The Visible and the Invisible," may be able to help us repair our relationship to the environment, and help us to solve our wasteful food crisis in America.

Steps to a Material Ecocriticism. The Recent Literature about the “New Materialisms” and its Impact on Ecocritical Theory

by Serenella Iovino

Published in Ecozon@, European Journal of Literature, Culture, and Environment, vol. 3 no. 1 (2012).

This bibliographic essay illustrates the proliferation of studies about the "new materialisms" and examines... more This bibliographic essay illustrates the proliferation of studies about the "new materialisms" and examines the potential influx of this conceptual trend on ecocriticism. In the discussion, in particular, I provide a comparative analysis of four books: Stacy Alaimo and Susan Hekman, Eds. Material Feminisms (Bloomington: Indiana U P, 2008), Stacy Alaimo, Bodily Natures: Science, Environment, and the Material Self (Bloomington: Indiana U P, 2010), Jane Bennett, Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things (Durham and London: Duke U P, 2010), David Abram, Becoming Animal (New York: Vintage Books, 2010).

Decrecimiento, trabajo y renta básica: Explorando la idea de trabajo en una sociedad decrecentista y la Renta Básica de Ciudadanía como herramienta …

by Borja Barragué

Ethnobiology as a Bridge between Science and Ethics: An Applied Paleozoological Perspective

by Steve Wolverton

In Ethnobiology. Edited by E. N. Anderson, D. Pearsall, E. Hunn, and N. Turner 2011, pp. 115-132. Wiley-Blackwell. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

In the face of the global environmental crisis, ethnobiologists find themselves in a potentially helpful position.... more In the face of the global environmental crisis, ethnobiologists find themselves in a potentially helpful position. Ethnobiology represents one of a few bridging disciplines between the philosophical foundations of environmental ethics and the scientific foundations of environmental science. Environmental philosophers study what ought to be done to address environmental problems at multiple spatial and temporal scales (Borgerhoff-Mulder and Coppolillo 2005; Rolston 1988), focusing on what it means to value nature, how humans do value and should go about valuing nature, and how these ethical footings should inform science and policy. Environmental science incorporates functional roles for many scientific disciplines (Miller 2007). Environmental science and environmental ethics share the goal of curbing the environmental crisis through communication among practitioners from different fields, appreciation of diverse perspectives, and incorporation of vested parties in policies and management decisions (Penn and Mysterud 2007a). Practitioners of ethnobiology communicate and interact across disciplinary, cultural, and temporal boundaries (Lepofsky 2009; Nabhan 2009).Within ethnobiology, applied zooarchaeology (or “applied paleozoology” to include paleontology)—the study of animal remains from archaeological and paleontological sites to provide baseline information relevant to restoration ecology and conservation biology—transcends temporal boundaries and offers an example of a bridging perspective that links ethics to science.

The Aesthetic Value of Animals

by Glenn Parsons

Although recent work in philosophical aesthetics has brought welcome attention to the beauty of nature, the aesthetic... more Although recent work in philosophical aesthetics has brought welcome attention to the beauty of nature, the aesthetic appreciation of animals remains rarely discussed. In this essay, I trace the existence of this gap in aesthetic theory to certain ethical difficulties with aesthetically appreciating animals. I suggest that these can be avoided by focusing on the aesthetic quality of ‘looking fit for function’. I defend this approach to animal beauty by arguing against the view that ‘looking fit’ is a non-aesthetic quality, and by replying to Edmund Burke’s famous critique of the connection between fitness and the beauty of animals.

Introducing Ethnobiology Letters

by Steve Wolverton

Steve Wolverton, Cynthia Fowler, David Cozzo

Ethnobiology Letters (EBL) is a peer-reviewed journal for short papers on topics related to ‘the study of human and... more Ethnobiology Letters (EBL) is a peer-reviewed journal for short papers on topics related to ‘the study of human and plant and animal interactions.’ The journal was created to address a few needs that were explicated during the Society of Ethnobiology annual board meeting in 2010 in Victoria, BC. First, there is no outlet dedicated to publishing short papers for ethnobiologists. Second, the Journal of Ethnobiology, from time to time, receives papers that present important data but that do not fit the mission of the journal to publish full-length, problem-oriented articles. Finally, the Journal of Ethnobiology is published twice per year; an open-access journal will publish a stream of papers between the two issues. To address these concerns, we decided to create a new complementary journal for the purpose of partnering with the Journal of Ethnobiology and our new, online monograph series Contributions in Ethnobiology. We immediately envisioned an open-access fully online journal to fill this niche, and EBL was born. We are interested in publishing a variety of types of papers, which we discuss in the rest of this letter.