Philosophy

SummaryThis text examines the most 'inconvenient truth' of all - and the most important: our moral responsibility for climate change.

SummaryLawrence Johnson advocates a major change in our attitude toward the nonhuman world. He argues that nonhuman animals, and ecosystems themselves, are morally significant beings with interests and rights. The author considers recent work in environmental ethics in the introduction and then presents his case with the utmost precision and clarity. -- Amazon.

SummaryNo one looking ahead at the middle of the last century could have foreseen the extent and the importance of the ensuing environmental crises. Now, more than a decade into the next century, no one can ignore it. This work offers clear, powerful, and oftentimes moving thoughts from one of the first and most respected philosophers to write on the environment. The author, an early and leading pioneer in studying the moral relationship between humans and the Earth, surveys the full spectrum of approaches in the field of environmental ethics. This book, however, is not simply a judicious overview. Instead, it offers critical assessments of contemporary academic accounts and draws on a lifetime of research and experience to suggest an outlook for the future. As a result, this focused, forward-looking analysis teaches its readers to be responsible global citizens, and residents of their landscape, helping ensure that the future we have will be the one we wish for. -- From p. [i] of text.

Summary"Capitalism is indeed at a crossroads, facing international terrorism, worldwide environmental change, and an accelerating backlash against globalization. Companies are at crossroads, too: finding new strategies for profitable growth is now more challenging. Both sets of problems are intimately linked. Learn how to identify sustainable products and technologies that can drive new growth while also helping to solve today's most crucial social and environmental problems. Hart shows how to become truly indigenous to all markets -- and avoid the pitfalls of traditional 'greening' and 'sustainability' strategies. This book doesn't just point the way to a capitalism that is more inclusive and more welcome: it offers specific techniques to recharge innovation, growth, and profitability."--Publisher's marketing.

SummaryVirtue ethics is now widely recognized as an alternative to Kantian and consequentialist ethical theories. However, moral philosophers have been slow to bring virtue ethics to bear on topics in applied ethics. Moreover, environmental virtue ethics is an underdeveloped area of environmental ethics. Although environmental ethicists often employ virtue-oriented evaluation (such as respect, care, and love for nature) and appeal to role models (such as Henry Thoreau, Aldo Leopold, and Rachel Carson) for guidance, environmental ethics has not been well informed by contemporary work on virtue.

ummaryAssessment of the environmental degradation, rapid population growth, and extreme poverty that threaten global peace and prosperity, with practical solutions based on a new economic paradigm for our crowded planet.

SummaryThe founder and chairman of a major carpet manufacturer describes how he transformed his company in accordance with Earth-friendly initiatives and sustainable practices, and reveals how his company's examples can be adopted by other businesses.

Summary"Being a consumer is now integral to the human experience, something none of us can avoid. At the same time, many of the products that we buy come to us with histories steeped in highly unethical practices, such as worker exploitation, animal suffering and environmental damage. Consuming Choices considers the ethical-dimensions of consumer life by exploring several basic questions: Exactly what sort of unethical practices are implicated in today's consumer products? Does moral culpability for these practices fall solely on the companies that perform them; or does it also fall upon consumers who purchase the products made with such practices? And most important, do consumers ever have moral obligations to avoid particular products? To answer, David T. Schwartz provides the most detailed philosophical exploration on consumer ethics to date. He uses historical and fictional examples to illustrate the types of wrongdoing currently implicated by consumer products in this age of globalization, offers a clear description of the relevant moral theories and important ethical concepts and provides concrete suggestions on how to be a more ethical consumer."--Jacket.

SummaryCulture, Leadership, and Organizations reports the results of a ten-year research program, the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness research program (GLOBE). GLOBE is a long-term program designed to conceptualize, operationalize, test, and validate a cross-level integrated theory of the relationship between culture and societal, organizational, and leadership effectiveness. A team of 160 scholars worked together since 1994 to study societal culture, organizational culture, and attributes of effective leadership in 62 cultures. Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies reports the findings of the first two phases of GLOBE. The book is primarily based on the results of the survey of over 17,000 middle managers in three industries: banking, food processing, and telecommunications, as well as archival measures of country economic prosperity and the physical and psychological well-being of the cultures studied. -- Back cover.

SummaryFreedom, Sen argues, is both the end and most effective means of sustaining economic life and the key to securing the general welfare of the world's entire population. Releasing the idea of individual freedom from association with any particular historical, intellectual, political, or religious tradition, Sen clearly demonstrates its current applicability and possibilities. In the new global economy, where, despite unprecedented increases in overall opulence, the contemporary world denies elementary freedoms to vast numbers--perhaps even the majority of people--he concludes, it is still possible to practically and optimistically retain a sense of social accountability.

Summary"Doing Environmental Ethics offers a way to face the earth's ecological crisis that draws on environmental science, economic theory, international law, and religious teachings, as well as philosophical arguments. It engages students in constructing ethical presumptions based on our duty (to other persons and species and also to ecosystems), our character (personal virtues), our relationships (with other persons and nature), and our rights (to sustainable development and a healthy environment). Then it tests these moral presumptions by predicting the likely consequences of acting on them"-- Provided by publisher.

SummaryThis book is a major new introduction to the field of ecological ethics. Taking issue with the common assumption that existing human ethics can be 'extended' to meet the demands of the ongoing ecological crisis, the author shows that a new and truly ecological ethic is both possible and urgently needed. With this distinctive proposition in mind, he introduces and discusses all the major concepts needed to understand the full range of ecological ethics.

AbstractThe most important discoveries of the 20th century exist not in the realm of science, medicine, or technology, but rather in the dawning awareness of the earth's limits and how those limits will affect human evolution. Humanity has reached a crossroad where various ecological catastrophes meet what some call sustainable development. While a great deal of attention has been given to what governments, corporations, utilities, international agencies, and private citizens can do to help in the transition to sustainability, little thought has been given to what schools, colleges, and universities can do. Ecological Literacy asks how the discovery of finiteness affects the content and substance of education. Given the limits of the earth, what should people know and how should they learn it?

SummaryHere is a refreshing look at how American cities are leading the way toward greener, cleaner, and more sustainable forms of economic development. In this book the author shows how in the absence of a comprehensive national policy, cities like Chicago, New York, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle have taken the lead in addressing the interrelated environmental problems of global warming, pollution, energy dependence, and social justice. Cities are major sources of pollution but because of their population density, reliance on public transportation, and other factors, she argues that they are uniquely suited to promote and benefit from green economic development. For cities facing worsening budget constraints, investing in high-paying green jobs in renewable energy technology, construction, manufacturing, recycling, and other fields will solve two problems at once, sparking economic growth while at the same time dramatically improving quality of life. She also examines how investing in green research and technology may help to revitalize older industrial cities and offers examples of cities that don't make the top-ten green lists such as Toledo and Cleveland, Ohio and Syracuse, New York.

ch. 1. Ethics, science, and the environment -- ch. 2. Ethical theory and the environment -- ch. 3. Forests, pollution, and economics -- ch. 4. Ethics, energy, and future generations -- ch. 5. Duties to the natural world -- ch. 6. Duties to animals -- ch. 7. Biocentric ethics -- ch. 8 Ecology and ethics -- ch. 9. The land ethic -- ch. 10. Deep ecology -- ch. 11. Social ecology and ecofeminism.

Summary"The books introduces environmental problems and environmental ethics and surveys theories of the sources of the problems. Attfield also puts forward his own original contributions to the debates, advocating biocentric consequentialism among theories of normative ethics and defending objectivism in meta-ethics. The possibilities of ethical consumerism and investment are discussed, and the nature and basis of responsibilities for future generations in such areas as sustainable development are given detailed consideration. Attfield adopts an inclusive, cosmopolitan perspective in discussions of global ethics and citizenship, and illustrates his argument with a discussion of global warming." "The text uses a range of devices to aid understanding, such as summaries of key issues, and guides to further reading and relevant websites. It has been written particularly with a view to the needs of students taking courses in environmental ethics, and will be of interest to students and scholars of philosophy, ethics, geography, religion and environmental studies."--Jacket.

Western philosophy of nature : the roots of our ecological situation -- Animal rights -- Does nature have intrinsic value? : biocentric and ecocentric ethics and deep ecology -- Ecofeminism -- The Gaia hypothesis and biospheric ethics -- Preservation of the species, nature, and natural objects -- Non-Western perspectives on environmental ethics -- Obligations to future generations -- Population : general considerations -- Population and world hunger -- Pollution : general considerations -- Pesticides -- Atmospheric conditions : the greenhouse effect and the ozone layer -- Are we conquering hazardous waste? -- Should we revive nuclear power? -- Economics and the environment -- From dysfunctional to sustainable society -- Epilogue : the Rio Declaration (1992).

SummaryThis introduction to the philosophy of the environment examines current debates on how we should think about the natural world and our place within it. The subject is examined from a determinedly analytic philosophical perspective, focusing on questions of value, but taking in attendant issues in epistemology and metaphysics as well. The book begins by considering the nature, extent and origin of the environmental problems with which we need to be concerned. Chapters go on to consider familiar strategies for dealing with environmental problems, and then consider what sort of things are of dire.

SummaryEveryone agrees that firms should obey the law. But beyond the law -- beyond compliance with regulations -- do firms have additional social responsibilities to commit resources voluntarily to environmental protection? How should we think about firms sacrificing profits in the social interest? May they do so within the scope of their fiduciary responsibilities to their shareholders? Is the practice sustainable, or will the competitive marketplace render such efforts and their impacts transient at best? Furthermore, is the practice, however well intended, an efficient use of social and economic resources? And do some firms already behave this way? Until now, public discussion has generated more heat than light on both the normative and positive questions surrounding corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the environmental realm. In Environmental Protection and the Social Responsibility of Firms, some of the nation's leading scholars in law, economics, and business examine commonly accepted assumptions at the heart of current debates on CSR and provide a foundation for future research and policymaking. --Publisher.

A Cornwall declaration on environmental stewardship -- A comprehensive torah-based approach to the environment -- The Catholic church and stewardship of creation -- A biblical perspective on environmental stewardship.

SummaryMuch has been written in recent years on environmental ethics relating to the more general 'natural' environment but little specifically written about ethics of the built environment. Ethics and the Built Environment responds to this need and offers a debate on the ethical dimension of building in all its forms from a variety of disciplinary perspectives and approaches. This book should be of interest to architects, students of building and building design, environmentalists, politicians and general readers with an interest in ethics.

SummaryThe authors explore the ecological worldviews of eleven major world religions, and consider how these can help shape effective environmental policy. At the heart of this book is a discussion of how religions can work with environment- and development-focused organizations, both to provide alternative models of conservation approaches, and to develop programs for their own faithful. The world's religions can - through storytelling, celebration, practice, spiritual guidance, activism in their communities, and advocacy worldwide - be powerful, and effective partners in a wide range of conservation initiatives. The book includes a collection of the faiths' core statements on conservation, brought together for the first time.

SummaryA team of over twenty expert contributors summarise and analyse the thinking of fifty diverse and stimulating figures from all over the world and from ancient times to the present day.

SummaryThis volume is fourth in the series of annuals created under the auspices of The Association for Feminist Ethics and Social Theory (FEAST). The topics covered herein-from peacekeeping and terrorism, to sex trafficking and women's paid labor, to poverty and religious fundamentalism-are vital to women and to feminist movements throughout the world.

Overlapping questions: globalization and distributive justice -- The knowledge economy. Microelectronics and market efficiency -- Requisite agility -- Efficiency as a criterion of distributive justice. Efficiency matters even more in the information age : considering the allocative dimension of price -- Preconditions and limitations of efficiency : considering the distributive dimension of price -- Need as a criterion of distributive justice. Need satisfaction as a necessary condition of efficiency -- Broader base for market initiative, creativity, and stability -- Entitlement as a criterion of distributive justice. Ownership externalities and the market as a public good -- Summary and conclusions : distributive justice in the knowledge economy.

Summary"From federal rebates for high-efficiency appliances to bottle deposits to 'Meatless Mondays, ' practices promoting sustainability are now incorporated into our daily lives. Due to the establishment of protection agencies and the efforts of activist groups, the wider public has become more conscious of the impact we humans make on the planet, and what we can do to preserve what we have. Religious communities, long concerned with broad issues of social responsibility and justice, have naturally become full participants in this greening movement. In Green Discipleship: Catholic Theological Ethics, scholars from the fields of theology and the social and hard sciences discuss this development, and consider how a proactive approach to the earth's welfare is, essentially, a moral obligation of Christians, and those of other faiths around the world."--Publisher's description.

ummaryCovers the moral relationship between humans and their natural environment, specifically targeting the contemporary green movement.

SummaryIn Defense of the Land Ethic: Essays in Environmental Philosophy brings into a single volume J. Baird Callicott's decade-long effort to articulate, defend, and extend the seminal environmental philosophy of Aldo Leopold. A leading voice in this new field, Callicott sounds the depths of the proverbial iceberg, the tip of which is "The Land Ethic.""The Land Ethic," Callicott argues, is traceable to the moral psychology of David Hume and Charles Darwin's classical account of the origin and evolution of Hume's moral sentiments. Leopold adds an ecological vision of organic nature to these foundations.How can an evolutionary and ecological environmental ethic bridge the gap between is and ought? How may wholes--species, ecosystems, and the biosphere itself--be the direct objects of moral concern? How may the intrinsic value of nonhuman natural entities and nature as a whole be justified?In addition to confronting and resolving these distinctly philosophical queries, Callicott engages in lively debate with proponents of animal liberation and rights--finally to achieve an integrated theory of animal welfare and environmental ethics. He critically discusses the land ethic that is alleged to have prevailed among traditional American Indian peoples and points toward a new and equally revolutionary environmental aesthetic. -- Amazon.

Summary"Progress" is in trouble. Hunger exists amid plenty. Technology too often serves violence. Forests and species are threatened, and the planet's climate is changing. These Achilles' heels of the otherwise spectacular 20th century threaten to unravel the many gains of that era. The values responsible for these fundamental flaws will need to be corrected if human progress is to continue in the 21st century. Fortunately, many religious people and institutions are stepping up to the challenge with inspiring initiatives to care for the environment and to rethink the way wealth is used in our world. Their contributions, while relatively modest compared to their potential, add value to the movement to build a sustainable world. Increased religious involvement in the effort could help usher in a brighter future of human progress. In the pages of this book, you can find out how." --[P. 4] of COVER.

The potential power of engaged religion -- Cooperation and caution -- The environment as sacred ground -- Ethical consumption -- Accelerating engagement.

SummaryComprehensive in scope, non-technical in expression, and concise in length, Is It Too Late? provides the scholar and the student alike with a readable and compelling orientation to the philosophical and theological stakes of ecology. This Fortress edition includes a new preface in which Cobb reflects on the current situation, the specific promises and perils we now face, and how his own thinking on matters theological and ecological has evolved in the last half century.

Foreword / Mark Sagoff -- 1. Utilitarianism and Preservation -- 2. Is There a Place for Animals in the Moral Consideration of Natures? -- 3. Organism, Community, and the "Substitution Problem" -- 4. Buffalo-Killing and the Valuation of Species -- 5. Searching for Intrinsic Value: Pragmatism and Despair in Environmental Ethics -- 6. Defending the Use of Animals by Business: Animal Liberation and Environmental Ethics -- 7. The Big Lie: Human Restoration of Nature -- 8. The Call of the Wild: The Struggle Against Domination and the Technological Fix of Nature -- 9. Artifacts and Functions: A Note on the Value of Nature -- 10. Imperialism and Environmentalism.

Introduction : the Asian traditions as a conceptual resource for environmental philosophy / J. Baird Callicott and Roger T. Ames -- Pacific shift / William Irwin Thompson -- Biology as a cosmological science / Harold J. Morowitz -- The metaphysical implications of ecology / J. Baird Callicott -- The continuity of being : Chinese visions of nature / Tu Wei-ming -- Human/nature in Nietzsche and Taoism / Graham Parkes -- On seeking a change of environment / David L. Hall -- Putting the Te back into Taoism / Roger T. Ames -- Units of change-units of value / Robert C. Neville -- The Japanese concept of "nature" / Hubertus Tellenbach and Bin Kimura -- The Japanese experience of nature / David Edward Shaner -- Saigyō and the Buddhist value of nature / William R. LaFleur -- The jewel net of Indra / Francis H. Cook -- Environmental problematics / Kenneth K. Inada -- Toward a middle path of survival / David J. Kalupahana -- A metaphysical grounding for natural reverence : East-West / Eliot Deutsch -- "Conceptual resources" in South Asia for "environmental ethics" / Gerald James Larson -- Epilogue : on the relation of idea and action / J. Baird Callicott and Roger T. Ames.

Summary"One of the world's most influential philosophers here considers the ethical issues surrounding globalization, showing how a global ethic rather than a nationalistic approach can provide illuminating answers to important problems. In a new preface, Peter Singer discusses the prospects for the ethical approach he advocates."--Jacket.

SummaryThe contributors address the environmental attitudes of the major religions, the relationship between art and nature, the Gaia hypothesis, and the non-instrumental values which have inspired environmental concern.

SummaryA respected international economic advisor and the director of The Earth Institute shares a wide-spectrum theory about how to enable economic success throughout the world, identifying the different categories into which various nations fall in today's economy while posing solutions to top political, environmental, and social problems that contribute to poverty. [The author] sets the stage by drawing a ... conceptual map of the world economy and the different categories into which countries fall. Then ... he explains why, over the past two hundred years, wealth has diverged across the planet in the manner that it has and why the poorest nations have been so markedly unable to escape the cruel vortex of poverty. The groundwork laid, he explains his methods for arriving ... at a holistic diagnosis of a country's situation and the options it faces. Rather than deliver a worldview to readers from on high, [the author] leads them along the learning path he himself followed, telling the ... stories of his own work in Bolivia, Poland, Russia, India, China, and Africa as a way to bring readers to a broad-based understanding of the array of issues countries can face and the way the issues interrelate. He concludes by drawing on everything he has learned to offer an integrated set of solutions to the interwoven economic, political, environmental, and social problems that most frequently hold societies back. In the end, he leaves readers with an understanding, not of how daunting the world's problems are, but how solvable they are - and why making the effort is a matter both of moral obligation and strategic self-interest.

SummaryExamines traditional attitudes toward nature and the degree to which these attitudes enable people to cope with modern ecological problems. It looks particularly at the Judaeo-Christian heritage of belief in man's dominion, the tradition of stewardship and the more recent belief in progress.

Summary"Global climate change is the most daunting ethical and political challenge confronting humanity in the twenty-first century. The intergenerational and transnational ethical issues raised by climate change have been the focus of a significant body of scholarship. In this new collection of essays, leading scholars engage and respond to first-generation scholarship and argue for new ways of thinking about our ethical obligations to present and future generations. Topics addressed in these essays include moral accountability for energy consumption and emissions, egalitarian and libertarian perspectives on mitigation, justice in relation to cap and trade schemes, the ethics of adaptation, and the ethical dimensions of the impact of climate change on nature"-- Provided by publisher

Summary"The ethics of nature explores humanity's treatment of the natural world from a Christian perspective. The book presents a range of ethical debates arising from our relationship with nature, including current controversies about the environment, animal rights, biotechnology, consciousness, and cloning. It sets the immediate issues in the context of underlying theological and philosophical assumptions, and draws out broader concerns for social justice. Complex scientific issues are explained in clear and intelligible language. Throughtout the book, the author draws on primary sources from Thomas Aquinas, and develops her own distinctive ethical approach. This demonstrates that a virtue ethic centred on wisdom provides the most appropriate way to approach the ethics of nature. She has held academic posts in both plant science and theology, giving her an ideal vantage point from which to write."--Back cover.

Summary"The Green Halo is a readable introduction to the vast field of contemporary ecological thought. It is a basic education in environmental philosophy and a welcome propadeutic for understanding the most crucial problem facing humankind in the coming century: How can humans live on this Earth so that they do not destroy the preconditions for their own existence?"--Jacket.

SummaryThe last two decades have seen the emergence of a new field of academic study that examines the interaction between religion and ecology. Theologians from every religious tradition have confronted world religions past attitudes towards nature and acknowledged their own faiths complicity in the environmental crisis. Out of this confrontation have been born vital new theologies based in the recovery of marginalized elements of tradition, profound criticisms of the past, and ecologically oriented visions of God, the Sacred, the Earth, and human beings. This handbook serves as an overview of these exciting new developments. Divided into three main sections, the books essays reflect the three dominant dimensions of the field. Part one explores traditional religious concepts of and attitudes towards nature and how these have been changed by the environmental crisis. Part II looks at larger conceptual issues that transcend individual traditions. Part III examines religious participation in environmental politics.

SummaryAn attack on the tragic waste, futility, and hubris of the West's efforts to date to improve the lot of the so-called developing world, with constructive suggestions on how to move forward. Economist Easterly discusses the twin tragedies of global poverty: the first, that so many are seemingly fated to live miserable lives and die early deaths; the second, that after fifty years and more than $2.3 trillion in aid, we have shockingly little to show for it. We preach a gospel of freedom and individual accountability, yet we intrude in the inner workings of other countries through bloated aid bureaucracies--and most of the places in which we've meddled are in fact no better off or are even worse off than they were before. Could it be that we don't know as much as we think we do?--From publisher description.

The spirituality of social justice / Rosemary Haughton -- Worship and ethical responsibility in the Bible / Euguen LaVerdiere -- Preaching and social justice: the lectionary and the Persian Gulf War / William Skudlarek -- Liturgy and social consciousness / R. Kevin Seasoltz -- In praise of Centesimus Annus / Stanley M. Hauerwas -- The ethical imperative of the Eucharist: responding in the workplace / Regina Wentzel Wolfe -- Poverty and prosperity in global economics: making sense of conflicting claims -- God's creation and the Christian's reponse / Bernard F. Evans.

pt. 1. Ethics in comparative context. Self-fulfillment through selflessness : the moral teachings of the Daode Jing / Russell Kirkland -- Ethical insights from Chu Hsi / Kirill Ole Thompson -- Concrete ethics in a comparative perspective : Zhuangzi meets William James / Alan Fox -- Preparing for something that never happens : the means/ends problem in modern culture / David R. Loy -- pt. 2. Ethics in cultural context-- variety of relativism? Pluralism in practice : incommensurability and constraints on change in ethical discourses / Stephen C. Angle -- The moral interpretation of culture / Samuel Fleischacker -- pt. 3. Ethics in a diverse world of conflict-- gender, law, and medicine. Ethics in the female voice : Murasaki Shikibu and the framing of ethics for Japan / Mara Miller -- Human rights law, religion, and the gendered moral order / Lucinda Joy Peach -- The Enlightenment paradigm of Native right and forged hybridity of cultural rights in British India / Purushottama Bilimoria -- Suicide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia : a Buddhist perspective / Damien Keown -- In extremis : abortion and assisted suicide from a Buddhist perspective / Michael Barnhart -- Good clinical practice? : can East Asia accommodate Western standards? / Carl B. Becker.

Introduction / Daniel C. Maguire -- Sustainability and the global economy / David C. Korten -- Self as individual and collective : ethical implications / Harold Coward -- New theology on population, ecology, and overconsumption from the Catholic perspective / Alberto Múnera, S.J. -- The lost fragrance : Protestantism and the nature of what matters / Catherine Keller -- The promises of exiles : a Jewish theology of responsibility / Laurie Zoloth -- "One tree is equal to ten sons" : some Hindu responses to the problems of ecology, population, and consumerism / Vasudha Narayanan -- An Islamic response to the manifest ecological crisis : issues of justice / Nawal H. Ammar -- Toward a Buddhist environmental ethic / Rita M. Gross -- Chinese religions on population, consumption, and ecology / Chün-fang Yü -- African religions and the global issues of population, consumption, and ecology / Jacob K. Olupona -- Conclusion : An interreligious common front and common hope / Paul F. Knitter.

SummaryProvides ten case studies of real-life environmental conflicts and explains the principles involved.

SummaryMore than two decades of international negotiations have failed to stem emissions of greenhouse gases that are causing global warming and climate change. This book identifies a way to escape this ongoing tragedy of the atmospheric commons. It takes a fresh approach to the ethics and practice of international environmental justice and proposes fundamental adjustments to the climate change regime, in the process drawing support from cosmopolitan ethics and global conceptions of justice. The author argues for 'cosmopolitan diplomacy', which sees people, rather than states alone, as the causes of.

SummaryThis [text] strives to be as inclusive as possible. It attempts to give voice to as wide a range as possible of the diverse sources of contemporary worldviews throughout the globe, Western and Eastern, Northern and Southern, women's and men's. -- Preface.