Nature Ethics
Subtitle: An Ecofeminist Perspective (Studies in Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy)
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.; Rowman & Littlefield
Published: December 28, 2007
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 320
ISBN-13: 9780742552005
Subjects: Social Science; Philosophy; Sociology; Ethics & Moral Philosophy; Philosophy / General; Environmental Conservation & Protection - General; Feminism & Feminist Theory; Animal welfare; Ecofeminism; Moral and ethical aspects; Philosophy of nature
Description: In this work, the author explores the underlying worldview of nature ethics, offering an alternative ecofeminist perspective. She focuses on four prominent representatives of holist philosophy: two early conservationists (Theodore Roosevelt and Aldo Leopold) and two contemporary philosophers (Holmes Rolston III, and transpersonal ecologist Warwick Fox). She argues that in directing their moral allegiance to abstract constructs (e.g. species, the ecosystem, or the transpersonal Self) these influential nature theorists represent a masculinist orientation that devalues concern for individual animals. Seeking to heal the divisions among the seemingly disparate movements and philosophies of feminism, animal advocacy, environmental ethics, and holistic health, she proposes an ecofeminist philosophy that underscores the importance of empathy and care for individual beings as well as larger wholes.