Environmental Philosophy Internationally
University of Wales, College of Cardiff, in Cardiff, Wales offers
a Ph.D., M. A., and M.Phil in Applied Ethics, including
environmental ethics and international relations. There is also a
Centre for Applied Ethics. The Ph.D. is normally a three year
program, with a research thesis. The M. Phil is normally a one-
year research degree with a longer disseration. The M. A. is a one
year degree with a shorter dissertation. Robin Attfield is a
professor there and head of the philosophy section. Contact: Mr.
Michael Durrant, Board of Studies for Philosophy, University of
Wales College of Cardiff, P. O. Box 94, Cardiff CF1 3XE, United
Kingdom. Telephone: Cardiff (0222) 874025.
Workineh Kelbessa completed a Ph.D. thesis, University of Wales: Indigenous
and Modern Environmental Ethics: A Study of the Indigenous Oromo Environmental
Ethic and Oromo Environmental Ethics in the Light of Modern Issues of Environment
and Development. Fall 2001. Explores the linkage between indigenous and
modern environmental ethics by examining the indigenous Oromo environmental
ethic. The Oromo are a traditionally pastoralist people in South-West Ethiopia,
comprising some 30% of the entire Ethiopian population. This undercuts some
modern arguments about what counts as authority, who counts as an expert, and
who counts as a scientist. The Oromo people have developed complex systems of
agriculture and intensive soil, water, vegetation and wildlife management that
have survived the test of time and the vagaries of the environment. These practices
incorporate Oromo values and beliefs more than Western practices incorporate
Western traditional values.
Further, the Oromo world view can serve
as the basis for a contemporary environmental ethic. Unlike anthropocentrists
the Oromo have deep concerns for the future and health of both humans and nonhuman
creatures. But indigenous and modern knowledge are not mutually exclusive. Each
has limitations and neither can be a panacea for all ills in isolation. Both
have something to teach as well as something to learn. In some instances one
is superior to the other. The thesis advisor was Robin Attfield. Kelbessa is
in philosopy, Addis Abbaba University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Helen Barnard completed a. Ph.D. thesis, University of Wales, Cardiff, Nature,
Human Nature and Value, December 2006. The main concern of environmental
philosophy has been to find value for nature. This thesis links a theory of
nature, a theory of human nature and a theory of value. A definition of nature
is explored, requiring a brief history of the concept of nature. There has been
a decline of teleological explanations and the development of two main contemporary
explanations of human nature in relation to nature: Ultra-Darwinism (a reductionist
explanation of human nature) and postmodernism. An analysis of these two positions
shows that neither have an adequate metaphysics for finding value in nature,
and this is revealed by an examination of two different types of environmental
philosophy influenced respectively by the two opposing views.
The problem of values is discussed
with particular emphasis on moral values. An argument for objective values based
on objective knowledge is put forward as well as a theory of human nature which
leads to the conclusion that teleological explanations link a theory of nature,
a theory of human nature and a theory of value more satisfactorily than the
non-teleological explanations of Ultra-Darwinism and postmodernism. This conclusion
is relevant to the problems of the environment. The advisor was Robin Attfield.
University of Central Lancashire, Preston, England, University of Central
Lancashire, England, Centre for Professional Ethics, offers an M. A. in Values
and Environment on campus and by distance learning. Eleven modules of instruction
are offered, which include areas such as "Environmental Ethics," "Philosophy
of Conservation," "Aesthetics and Environment," "Animals,
Plants and Nature in Western Thought" and "Deliberation and Public Consultation"
Six are required to complete the degree, together with a dissertation. Warwick
Fox is a reader there along with Vernon Pratt and Peter Lucas, the course leader
is Isis Brook. The environmental crisis requires us to think deeply about its
causes and possible solutions. Although technologically driven approaches to these
problems have been and will continue to be important, many commentators - from
ecologists and environmental NGOs to political and religious leaders - consider
that our environmental problems can only properly be understood and addressed
at the level of the fundamental values that people hold. The MA Values and Environment
(MAVE) provides an opportunity for students to deepen their understanding of how
the values that have shaped our view of the world have emerged, what alternative
approaches are being developed (or revived), and how these alternatives might
be put to work to shape our global future. Further details available at:
http://www.uclan.ac.uk/facs/health/ethics/courses/ma_values.htm
Contact Dr Isis Brook ihbrook@uclan.ac.uk
University of Lancaster, UK. Michael P. Nelson completed a Ph.D. thesis,
1998, The Land Ethic: A Theory of Environmental Ethics Defended. Focuses
on Leopold's land ethic, covering issues in normative and theoretical ethics,
also the history of philosophy and the philosophy of biology. The advisors were
Alan Holland and Kate Rawles. Nelson is now assistant professor in the Department
of Philosophy, University of Idaho..
Oxford University. The Oxford Centre for the Environment, Ethics
and Society is located at Mansfield College, Oxford. The focus is
on ethics and values as foundational for the analysis of the social
dimension of environmental issues. One faculty member is Andrew
Linzey, who occupies a fellowship sponsored by World Wildlife Fund
in animal welfare. Another is Laura Rival, a French
anthropologist, who does research on indigenous peoples in South
America, with particular reference to petroleum development.
Another is Bhaskar Vira, who is an economist, dealing with waste
management in the lesser developed countries. Antonia Layard, a
lawyer, analyses environmental liability within the European
Community. Another Oxford philosopher interested in environmental
issues is Roger Crisp, St. Anne's College. A recent Oxford Ph.D.
is Clare Palmer, who wrote a dissertation on process philosophy and
theology and environmental philosophy; she now has a teaching
position at the University of Greenwich. Address: Oxford Centre
for the Environment, Ethics and Society, Mansfield College, Oxford
OX1 3TF, UK.
Oxford University, Oxford, UK. Paul Waldau completed a Ph.D.
thesis, 1998, Speciesism in Christianity and Buddhism. A
comparative study of early Buddhist and early Christian language
and views regarding other animals. Examination of the vocabulary
and phrasing of philosophical and religious writings in the
original languages (Pali in the case of Buddhism; Hebrew, Greek,
and Latin in the case of Christianity) suggests that views of other
animals were perpetuated by repeated and now traditional use of a
very limited range of words and concepts. For Christians, Greek
ideas were also important. For Buddhists, cultural presuppositions
of the Indian subcontinent were important. Advisors included
J.K.S. Ward. Waldeau also has a J.D. degree from UCLA. He is
currently teaching part-time at Western Connecticut State
University and at other Boston area universities. He has also been
involved in ten conferences on religion and ecology that the
Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions hosted
over the last ten years.
Manchester University. Piers H. G. Stephens, completed a Ph. D.
thsis, Value, Nature and the Subject-Object Divide, 1997.
Modernity is characterised by appropriating and making artefacts of
nature, drawn from the philosophy of Descartes, Bacon and Locke,
making nature continuously more of a reductive instrument for
humans. This movement is challenged by synthesising the work of
Anthony Weston and Robert E. Goodin within the epistemological
framework of William James' pragmatic naturalism. Nature is
ontologically contrasted to artifice, then defended as a source of
spontaneity at the experiential level and of coherence at the
theoretical/political level, making the claim for nature as a
necessary primary good in the latter domain. The thesis supervisor
was Keekok Lee. The external examiner was Andrew Dobson,
University of Keele.
University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Cheryl Foster completed in 1992
a Ph.D. dissertation, Aesthetics and the Natural Environment. The
supervisor was Ronald Hepburn. Foster is now assistant professor
of philosophy at the University of Rhode Island, Department of
Philosophy, 204 Adams Hall, Kingston, RI 02881-0813. Phone
401/792-2418. Fax 401-792-2945.
University of Edinburgh. There is a MSc in Human Ecology, also a diploma,
a one-year course. Relationships between people and environment, including ecological
economics, sustainability, gender politics, Agenda 21, environmental planning,
agriculture, foresty, spiritual perspectives, creativity, community. Centre
for Human Ecology, University of Edinburgh, 12 Roseneath Place, Edinburgh EH9
1JB, UK. Phone 44 (0)131 624 1974. Fax 44 (0)131 228 9630.
E-mail: registrar@che.ac.uk. Web: www.che.ac.uk
University of Southampton (United Kingdom). Graham Martin Smith completed
a Ph.D. in political science, Pluralism, Deliberative Democracy and Environmental
Values. 1997. How contemporary democratic decision making processes might
more adequately attend to environmental values, connecting environmental politics
and ethics. Humans value the nonhuman world in diverse ways. Value pluralism challenges
moral philosophy and environmental ethics where the aim is to develop a monistic
ethical theory. Decision making techniques such as cost-benefit analysis are insensitive
to such value pluralism and misrepresent the values we associate with the nonhuman
world. Liberal theory and liberal representative institutions fail to attend to
environmental value pluralism. Two potential models of deliberative institutions
are investigated--citizen panels and mediation-- which might increase the ecological
quality of political decisions.
University of Essex, UK. David Samways completed a Ph.D.
thesis: Ecological
Wisdom and the Noble Savage: Assessing the Foundations of Eco-
fundamentalism, 1996, in philosophy. Eco-fundamentalism attempts to
establish incontestable foundations to environmental ethics, for example
mobilizing a conception of human nature as the ultimate ground to ethical
discourse. Such thinkers oppose the "ecological wisdom" of primitive
peoples and the environmental degradation of civilization, with its
anthropocentric orientation. But the simple equation of a certain
orientation toward nature and consequent action is naive. Anthropocentrism
has not been uniformly despotic, and it represents an unlikely candidate for
the root cause of environmental degradation. Further, the ecological
harmony of primitive peoples is a myth that owes more to Rousseauian
speculation about the Noble Savage than any thoroughgoing anthropology or
palaeo-anthropology. The ecological degradation caused by "developed"
societies compared to primitive societies is quantitative rather than
qualitative. Environmental ethics ultimately are no more than the beliefs
and preferences of environmentalists. A pragmatist morality with a "medium
strength anthropocentrism" can provide radical environmental
ethics.
University of Leeds, UK. Chris Drinkwater completed a Ph.D. thesis, 1995,
Ecology and Postmodernity, in contemporary Cultural Studies. The thesis
relates the discourses of ecology and postmodern cultural analysis. There
are both commonalities and irresolvable tensions. (1) The key problem is
to elaborate ecological connectedness, a sense of ground, in terms that
postmodern sensibility can understand and perhaps even embrace. (2) There
are particular problems posed by dualistic structures of thinking and feeling. A key problem is to think beyond
dualism of Same and Other, but without reducing the Other to the Same. (3) There is resistance
to Self and Other dualism in the form of ecological identification. Deep ecological strategies of
subjectivity are more complex and ambivalent than may first appear. (4) Human / nature
dualism can be countered with symbolic and allegorical attitudes, with an excess of meaning that
does not belong to language alone. (5,6) A politics of nature, using two broad strategies,
coming from postmodern cultural analysis and from ecology. First, inclusion of "the natural"
within "the social"; secondly, preservation of an Other that radically resists incorporation. Each
of these approaches is necessary and desirable.
Free University of Brussels. The Human Ecology M.Sc. at the Free
University of Brussels, VUB, homepage is
http://vub.vub.ac.be/~gronsse/gen/intro.html
University of Oslo. The University of Oslo has now developed a
program (there called a "course") entitled "Master of Philosophy in
Environmental Values. The course is taught in English, is designed
to attract international students, and is specifically geared to
those who have a first degree in the Arts, Humanities or the Social
Sciences preferably with a philosophy component. The web page
giving details of the course is:
http://faust.uio.no/kunngj/studyplan.html
The course duration is two years of full-time study, and is
assessed by a combination of course work and a dissertation to be
written during the second year of study. The new M.Phil. is
offered by the Centre for Development and Environment (SUM) in
collaboration with the Faculty of Arts, University of Oslo. The
homepage for SUM is
http://faust.uio.no/index.html
Students with a science background will be considered for the
M.Phil. but their admission is at the discretion of the course
organizers. Other European universities offer programs in Human
Ecology, admission to which normally requires a degree in medicine
or one of the life sciences.
University of New England, Armidale, Australia. The University of
New England, Department of Philosophy, features a Master of Arts,
a Master of Letters, and Ph.D. programs in environmental
philosophy. The M. A. takes from 1-2 years and involves a
dissertation, written papers, or both. The Master of Letters
involves substantial coursework and a short dissertation. The
Ph.D. is a three-year degree, with dissertation. Benefits include
cheaper accomodations, a desirable natural and social environment,
opportunities for employment in the department and residential
colleges, and opportunities for close relations with supervisors.
Contact Head of Department, Department of Philosophy, University of
New England, Armidale, N.S. W. 2351, Australia. Phone 067 73 2896.
University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia offers both
the M.A. and Ph.D degrees, with the possibility of a degree in environmental
philosophy. Andrew Brennan, Head of the Department, has a principal interest
in this field. Contact Andrew Brennan, Head, Department of Philosophy, The University
of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia. Fax: (09) 380 1057. Phone (09)
380 2107.
Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia. Stephan Millett completed
a Ph.D. thesis, Autopoiesis and Immanent Teleology: Toward an Aristotelian
Environmental Ethic, 1997. The contemporary concept of autopoiesis
is enriched by coupling it with an Aristotelian concept of immanent teology,
and such a metaphysical concept of nature can serve as a basis of environmental
ethics. Millett is now Director, Centre for Applied Ethics and Philosophy,
Curtin University of Technology, Perth, WA.
University of Newcastle, Callaghan, N.S.W. (Newcastle area). Bruce A.
Anthony completed a Ph.D. thesis in the Department of Philosophy, Towards
the Recognition of a Necessary Environmental Value, May 1997. Anthony surveys
the contemporary theories in environmental ethics, especially that of Holmes
Rolston, and argues for a theory of value to be distinguished from a theory
of the good. There are two necessary environmental values: (1) It is valuable
to be a valuer, which is the positive value of the capacity to value. (2) The
ground of such valuing is itself valuable, which is the positive value of the
ground of the capacity to value. This latter is best applied to the ecosystemic
matrix of value, and from this one can conclude that one ought not to degrade
the ground of the capacity to value.
Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Greg R. Pritchard completed
a Ph.D. thesis, Econstruction: The Nature/Culture Opposition in Texts about
Whales and Whaling, 2004, Faculty of Arts. This thesis investigates
the perceived opposition between "culture" and "nature",
presented as a dominant, biased and antagonistic relationship, engrained in
the language of Western culture. By focusing on whale texts (including
older narratives, whaling books, novels and other whale-related texts), it explores
the portrayal of whales and the natural world. And, lastly, it suggests
that Schopenhaurean thought, which has affinities in Moby-Dick, offers a cogent
approach to ecocritically reading literature.
University of Queensland, Australia. Paul Francis York completed a Ph.D.
thesis:Respect for the World: Universal Ethics and the Morality of Terraforming.
2005. An examination of the morality of large-scale efforts to transform
inanimate parts of nature, for example, proposals to terraform Mars. Such
an ethics expands the class of entities regarded as morally considerable to
include inanimate entities. Builds on the theory of Paul W. Taylor, in
his Respect for Nature. Proposes two extensions: an expansion of the
scope of moral considerability to include all concrete material objects and
the introduction of variable moral significance (all entities have inherent
worth but some have more than others). Develops a universal ethics,
an ethical framework whose key elements are a fundamental ethical attitude of
respect for the world and a principle of minimal harm. Universal ethics
regards all concrete material entities, whether living or not, and whether natural
or artefactual, as inherently valuable, and therefore as entitled to the respect
of moral agents. Concludes that terraforming Mars or any other celestial
body at this point in our history would be morally wrong. Also suggests
that universal ethics provides an ethical foundation for efforts to protect
Antarctica.
Polytechnic of Central London has established an interdisciplinary
Centre for Environmental Policy Study. Contact: Polytechnic of
Central London, 25 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS.
University of Stellenbosch, in Stellenbosh, South Africa, through
its Department of Philosophy, Centre for Applied Ethics, has
established a Unit for Environmental Ethics. This Unit is a multi-
disciplinary research and advisory boady that concerns itself with
the problems that arise from the application of ethical norms to
environmental issues. The Unit provides a nonpartisan forum for
the exchange of ideas on environmental ethics in contemporary
society, focussing on South Africa. Stellenbosch is a major South
African University, located about an hour outside of Cape Town.
Both M.A. and Ph.D degree work is possible. Contact Dr. Johan P.
Hattingh, Chair, Unit for Environmental Ethics, Department of
Philosophy, University of Stellenbosch, 7600 Stellenbosch, SOUTH
AFRICA.
University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. F.W.J. (Ian) Voges
finished a D.Phil. dissertation, 1999, Sustainable Development and
the Socially Embedded Firm. An Inquiry into the Nature, Causes and
Transformation of Structural Unsustainability in Contemporary
Liberal Capitalism, 1999. Unsustainability is not an incidental
consequence, but rather a structural feature of contemporary
liberal capitalism. Sustainable development can be adequately
conceptualised as intra- and intergenerational justice within the
framework of Rawlsian constitutional liberalism. However, the
Anglo-American model of capitalism that drives economic
globalization does not represent the optimal institutional
configuration for implementing intra- and intergenerational justice
in the economy and corporations. The theory of associative
democracy and contemporary political economics indicate that
liberal capitalism can accommodate intra- and intergenerational
justice if institutionally supplemented with empowered associations
that play a visible role in economic and corporate governance.
Promotor: Johan P. Hattingh, Co-promotor: Wouter Achterberg,
University of Amsterdam. Voges is now in the office of Health and
the Environment, Shell Oil Company, The Hague, Netherlands.
University of Stellenbosh, South Africa. Friedl Marincowitz
finished an M. A. thesis, Towards an Ecological Feminist Self
beyond Dualism and Essentialism, 1998. Promotor: Johan P. Hattingh.
University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. H. De Beer, finished a
M. A. thesis, Omgewingsetiek en omgewingsbewaring: 'n wysgerig-
etiese perspektief op bewaringswetgewing, -beleid en strategiee in
Suid-Afrika. (Environmental Ethics and Environmental Conservation:
A Philosophical-Ethical Perspective on Conservation Law, Policy
and Strategies in South Africa). Promotor: Johan P. Hattingh.
University of Stellenbosch South Africa. I. MacFarlane finished a
M. Phil. thesis, An Evaluation and Prioritisation of Dispute
Resolution Procedures in the Context of Sustainable Development,
1998. Promotor: Johan P. Hattingh.
University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. G. Schafer finished a M.
Phil. thesis, Bioregionalism and Contextual Discourse: Towards a
Postmodern Environmentalism in South Africa, 1998. Promotor: Johan
P. Hattingh.
University of South Africa (UNISA) in Pretoria, Alan Hilary
Marshall completed a M.A., The Concept of Environmental Ethics,
1993, arguing a homocentric ethics. This is the world view that
the peoples and nations of the world currently adopt; morality is
largely worked out in that context, and it is the view most likely
to be successful in environmental conservation. Contact Pieter
Coetzee, Department of Philosophy, UNISA, Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA.
University of Frankfurt, Germany. Angelika Krebs completed in 1993
a Ph.D. dissertation, Ethics of Nature: Basic Concepts, Basic
Arguments of the Present Debate on Animal Ethics and Environmental
Ethics. The supervisors were Bernard Williams, Friedrich
Kambartel, and Jürgen Habermas. Krebs is now Associate Professor
at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Frankfurt, Germany.
Her address: Kanalstrasse 10, 78247 Hilzingen-Duchtlingen, Germany.
University of Oslo, Norway has a large philosophy department (also
called an institute), about thirty-five persons. In the Norwegian
curriculm all students at all universities (about 20,000 at Oslo)
must sit an examination in what is called the examen philosophicum,
a combined course involving the history of philosophy, some
philosophy of science, and some logic and semantics. There are
about twenty philosophers mainly assigned to this curriculum, and
about fifteen who are assigned other philosophy courses and
graduate teaching, which, with some, includes environmental ethics.
There is both an M.A. and a Ph.D. program. For Norwegians, the
university course is typically six years and ends with master's
degree. Theses are often written in English, though lectures are
typically in Norwegian.
Two persons with an interest in environmental ethics are Jon
Wetlesen, in the philosophy graduate faculty, and Per Ariansen in
the examen philosophicum faculty. Ariansen is the author of
Miljofilosofi: En Innforing (Environmental Philosophy: An
Introduction) (Oslo: Universitetforlaget, 1992), the first general
text in environmental ethics in Norwegian. Address: Department of
Philosophy, University of Oslo, Boks 1020, 0315 Oslo 3.
There is a Senter for Utvikling og Miljo (Center for Development
and Environment) attached to the University of Oslo. About twenty
persons are attached to the center in various research programs and
the Center sponsors a number of seminars. Arne Naess, retired from
the department of philosophy for a number of years, maintains an
office here. Address for the Center: Postboks 1106, Blindern, 0317
Oslo. Phone 22 85 44 21. Fax 22 85 48 20.
Peder Anker completed a M.A. dissertation, The Political Limits of
Deep Ecology (in Norwegian), in the Department of Philosophy. The
argument is that deep ecology provides insufficient guidance for
the solution of political problems requiring compromises in setting
standards that must do justice to both sides. Other philosophers,
such as Habermas and Rawls, although operating from an
anthropocentric position, have important insights about justice
that deep ecology lacks and needs. Address: Peder Anker, Erling
Skjalgssonsgt 1b, 0267 Oslo.
University of Göteborg, Sweden. Bolof Stridbeck completed a doctoral
dissertation in practical philosophy at the Humanities faculty at the University
of Göteborg, June 1993. Published as Ekosofi och Etik (Göteborg,
Sweden: Bokskogen, 1994). ISBN 91 7776 070 0. With an English summary, pp. 289-299.
Deals with selected Norwegian and other ecophilosophers: Sigmund Kvaloy (Sätereng).
Hjalmar Hegge. Arne Naess, Henryk Skolimowski. Generally he finds that these
thinkers complement one another. Finally, the political strategy of Thomas Mathiesen,
for promoting "ecological balance and creative manifoldness."
University of Göteborg, Sweden. Petra Andersson completed
a Ph.D. thesis: Humanity and Nature: Towards a Consistent Holistic Environmental
Ethics. Published as Göteborg, Sweden: Acta Philosophica Gothoburgensia,
no 20, 2007. ISSN: 0283-2380 ISBN: 978-91-7346-578-6. Within the theoretical
framework of holistic environmental ethics, moral status is ascribed to biotic
wholes, such as ecosystems, species and landscapes. The purpose of holistic
environmental ethics is not entirely clear, since the framework contains conflicting
ideas about which properties of the biotic whole contribute to moral status,
and to which moral reasons this moral status gives rise. The tensions are organized
in three themes: human-centered, integrity-centered, and nature-centered ethics.
If naturalness is
seen as a binary property, it creates a grave incoherence. If naturalness is
instead understood in more nuanced terms (so that naturalness can be a question
of different degrees or senses), some of these problems become less serious,
but new problems emerge. In particular, the question whether a version of holistic
environmental ethics that incorporates nature-centeredness may allow human beings
a reasonable space remains. If nature-centeredness is rejected, however, several
internal tensions within a holistic environmental ethics may be resolved. A
plausible ethics should abandon the nature-centered theme, i.e. reject the idea
of "natural nature" as being morally significant in itself.
The idea that integrity
gives rise to moral status of a biotic whole is more fruitful, and can also
be combined with most of the particular opinions that might motivate nature-centeredness.
Integrity-centeredness may also be consistently combined with human-centeredness,
and a holistic environmental ethic may thus provide reasonable room for human
beings in nature.
University of Helsinki, Finland. Leena Vilkka finished a Ph.D. thesis,
The Varieties of Intrinsic Value in Nature: A Naturistic Approach to Environmental
Philosophy (in English), November 1995. The thesis examines the varieties
of intrinsic value in nature proposed by various philosophers and then progressively
defends an animal-centered philosophy (zoocentrism), a life centered- philosophy
(biocentrism) and an ecosystem-centered philosophy (ecocentrism), culminating
in a defense of objective intrinsic value in nature and of the rights of animals.
The thesis was published in 1997 by Editions Rodopi (Amsterdam/Atlanta) in their
Value Inquiry Book Series, Robert Ginsburg, editor. This was the first Ph.D.
thesis in Finland in environmental philosophy. The thesis advisor was Ilkka
Niiniluoto; the "opponent" at the defense was Holmes Rolston. Vilkka is now
a docent at the University of Helsinki, Department of Philosophy.
University of Turku, Finland. Markku Oksanen completed a Ph.D.
thesis, summer 1998, published as Nature as Property: Environmental
Ethics and the Institution of Ownership. Turku, Finland: Reports
from the Department of Practical Philosophy, University of Turku,
Volume 10, 1998. ISSN 0786-8111. ISBN 951-29-1191-4 Juhani
Pietarinen of the Department of Philosophy was princpial advisor.
A study of the conceptual and practical implications of the
institution of ownership, when ecological concerns are profoundly
taken into account. Can natural things be owned? On what grounds
are they ownable? Assuming that natural objects are ownable, how
do we apply these norms in practice? The Western understanding of,
and the attitude to, nature are changing and the change may extend
to concern the institution of ownership. Particularly land
ownership is in many cases directly related to the emergence of
ecological problems.
University of Tartu, Estonia. Heiki Reila, completed a Master's
thesis in 1996. The dissertation is: Teoloogiline keskkonnaeetika
ja inimkeskne traditsioon. Mónede uudsete keskkonnaeetika lähete
vórdlev analüüs (Environmental Ethics and the Tradition of
Anthhropocentrism. A Comparative Analysis of Some New Approaches
in Contemporary Theological Ethics Confronting Environmental
Problems) (in Estonian). Three approaches are featured: (1)
stewardship, chapter 2, with Ronald Preston and James Gustafson as
examples; (2) Christian ecofeminism (chapter 3), with Rosemary
Radford Reuther and Sallie McFague as examples; and (3) the
reverence for life (Chapter 4), with Andrew Linzey as an example.
The three are critical of classical Christianity on grounds of (1)
the dominion of man, (2) androcentrism, and (3) speciesism. The
advisor was Jaanus Noormägi. Reila is a Lutheran pastor at Vandra,
Estonia (Address: Heiki Reila, Vändra EE 3461, Estonia).
People's University of China, Beijing. Yang Tongjin completed a
Ph. D. thesis: Xifang Huanjing Lunli Sixiang Hanjiu (The Ethical
Foundation of Environmental Movements--A Study of Western
Environmental Ethics (in Chinese), June 1998. The first doctoral
dissertation in China studying Western environmental ethics. The
advisor was Luo Guoje, Chair of the Chinese Society of Ethics.
Developing an environmental ethics in China requires an analysis of
Western environmental ethics. Surveys various types of
environmental ethics with detailed analysis of anthropocentric
ethics, animal welfare ethics, biocentrism, and ecocentrism. These
schools differ in regard to who is morally considerable. Confucian
and Taoist virtue ethics can provide grounds for showing how
virtuous persons express concern for nonhumans as well as for
humans, resulting in a complementarity of humans and nature, a
comprehensive and inclusive ethic. Yang continues his research at
the Institute of Philosophy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,
Beijing. He is the translator for a Chinese edition of Holmes
Rolston's Environmental Ethics, in Chinese as
Huanjing Lunli xue: Daziran de jiazhi yiji ren dui daziran de yiwu
(Beijing: Chinese Social Science Press [Zhongguo Shehui kexue Chuban she],
2000). ISBN 7-5004-2743-3.
Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain. Bernard Marsh completed a S.T.D.
degree thesis, Towards a Theology of Ecology, 1994. 380 Pages. Facultad de
teologia, Universidad de Navarra. The roots of the ecological crisis and
the theological responses to it. Positions regarding God and divine
creative activity, and some conceptions of the value of human and non-human
creatures. Exemplarism and sacramental views of nature as ways of
appreciating creation, and emphasis on responsibility, work and virtues as
delineating the human role within creation. A theology of ecology that
stresses the importance of revelation and builds upon a solid ontological
foundation essential for such a theology. This foundation involves an
understanding of the value of all creatures and the order in creation. A
section: "Anthropology and the Human Itinerary" sketches the role properly
belonging to the image and likeness of God in the world with its personal
and social dimensions. The impact of sin and redemption on the whole of
creation is discussed. Finally, three theological virtues are related to a
fully personal response to the ecological crisis.