The purpose of this book is to cast the current debates about environmental conservation and economic development within an ethical framework. Using the concept of sustainability, the distinguished editors, following a broad-ranging survey of the nature and practice of ethical ideas in approaching problems and conflicts in environmental and development issues, have invited scholars from a wide range of cultural, political, religious and philosophical backgrounds to review what constitutes the major ethical issues within their own fields. Contributions from the perspectives of the western liberal democratic societies, the eastern command economies, Japan, Latin America, and Africa provide illuminating and sometimes surprising models for ethical ways of environmental thinking.

How can we make ethical decisions about our environment in the face of increasingly conflicting needs and opinions? This collection of essays offers a wide range of viewpoints representing many of the world's cultural and religious traditions to help readers better make such determinations for themselves. The authors seek to clarify the ethical principles surrounding the concept of "sustainable development." They provide a synoptic overview of the contemporary moral challenge of sustainable development and the similarities and differences in its interpretation throughout the world. In bringing together contributions by authorities in environmental ethics and developmental ethics, and by those who are addressing these questions from the perspectives of religion and humanistic philosophy, the book develops the concept of sustainability as the ethical approach to reconciling the needs of environmental conservation with economic development.

Of all the books written about the problems of sustainable development and environmental protection, Sustainable Development: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy is one of the first to examine the role of science, economics and law, and ethics as generally applied to decision making on sustainable development, particularly in respect to the recommendations contained in Agenda 21. Specifically, the book examines the role, capabilities, and certain strengths and weaknesses of these disciplines and their ethical implications in the context of sustainable development problems. Such an analysis is necessary to determine whether sustainable development problems create important new challenges and problems for government so that, where appropriate, new tools or approaches may be designed to overcome limitations or take advantage of the strengths of current scientific, economic and legal capabilities. Audience: Environmental professionals, whether academic, governmental or industrial, or in the private consultancy sector. Also suitable as an upper level text or reference.

Environmental issues raise crucial questions. What should we value? What is our place in nature? What kind of life should we live? How should we interact with other living things? Environmental management and policy-making is ultimately based on answers to these and similar questions, but do we need a new ethics to be able overcome the environmental crisis we face? This book addresses these important questions and explores the values that decision-makers often presuppose in their environmental policy-making. Examining the content of the ethics of sustainable development that the UN and the world’s governments want us to embrace, this book examines alternatives to this kind of ethics, and the differences in basic values that these make in practice. Offering a detailed analysis of the ethics that lie behind current policy-making as it is expressed in documents such as Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration, this unique contribution to the field of environmental studies shows how different environmental ethical theories support different goals of environmental management and generate different policies when it comes to population growth, agriculture, and preservation and management of wilderness areas and endangered species. Mikael Stenmark concludes that policy-makers must take more seriously the value assumptions and conflicts connected to environmental issues, and state explicitly on what values their own proposals and decisions are based and why these should be accepted. Those studying environmental issues or environmental philosophy will find this accessible text invaluable in presenting a clear understanding of environmental ethics and contemporary applications and policies.

Basic Ethics presents for a wide range of students and other interested readers the questions raised in thinking about ethical problems, the answers offered by moral philosophy, and the means to better integrate into both the reader’s world and personal life. It takes up what the author calls a "worldview theory," which shows readers how to begin with the values and understanding of the world that they already possess in order to transition from there to new levels of increasing ethical awareness. Updates to the third edition include the more thorough integration of feminist ethics into the principal theoretical traditions, a new chapter on the ethical responsibility to be well informed of current events, expanded coverage of human rights, and additional opportunities on how to use ethical reasoning in thinking about one’s own life and about public policy. Key Features: Links personal values to a philosophical treatment of the major ethical theories Presents ethics in the context of social/political issues that face our nation and the world Challenges the student to react to the presented material through critical exercises that may be used as weekly assignments and can form the basis of class discussion and evaluation. Engages the student to think about underlying issues first (in the basic questions) before presenting the most popular solutions (in the basic answers) Invites the reader to make up her own mind on how to formulate an ethical theory that will help her in her own life Offers a 16-chapter format to fit into most college-semester calendars Presents an overall structure that establishes foundational problems in ethical theory in the first section of the book that are variously addressed by the different ethical theories in the second section of the book Highlights key terms to help the reader grapple with issues raised (which are reviewed and defined in a final Glossary) Includes a final chapter designed to help students comprehend the book in its entirety. Updates to the Third Edition: Highlights new research on human rights and their relevance to ethical thinking and contemporary moral issues Integrates feminist ethics into the principal theoretical traditions: virtue ethics, ethical intuitionism, and some versions of deontology Provides new coverage of "fake news" and the moral responsibility to be well and accurately informed of current events Expands opportunities to use ethical reasoning in thinking about one’s own life and about public policy.

As industry and technology proliferate in modern society, sustainability has jumped to the forefront of contemporary political and environmental discussions. The balance between progress and the earth's ability to provide for its inhabitants grows increasingly precarious as we attempt to achieve sustainable development. In The Agrarian Vision: Sustainability and Environmental Ethics, Paul B. Thompson articulates a new agrarian philosophy, emphasizing the vital role of agrarianism in modern agricultural practices. Thompson, a highly regarded voice in environmental philosophy, unites concepts of agrarian philosophy, political theory, and environmental ethics to illustrate the importance of creating and maintaining environmentally conscious communities. Thompson describes the evolution of agrarian values in America, following the path blazed by Thomas Jefferson, John Steinbeck, and Wendell Berry. Providing a pragmatic approach to ecological responsibility and commitment, The Agrarian Vision is a significant, compelling argument for the practice of a reconfigured and expanded agrarianism in our efforts to support modern industrialized culture while also preserving the natural world.

What is the environment, and how does it figure in an ethical life? This book is an introduction to the philosophical issues involved in this important question, focussing primarily on ethics but also encompassing questions in aesthetics and political philosophy. Topics discussed include the environment as an ethical question, human morality, meta-ethics, normative ethics, humans and other animals, the value of nature, and nature's future. The discussion is accessible and richly illustrated with examples. The book will be valuable for students taking courses in environmental philosophy, and also for a wider audience in courses in ethics, practical ethics, and environmental studies. It will also appeal to general readers who want a reliable and sophisticated introduction to the field.