Includes bibliographical references and index.

Science, Ethics, and the Environment -- Discussion: Technological Solutions to Environmental Problems -- Introduction: Why Philosophy? -- Science and Ethics -- What Is Environmental Ethics? -- Ethical Theory and the Environment -- Discussion: Individual Rights and Social Goods -- Why Ethical Theory? -- Ethical Relativism -- Natural Law--The Tradition of Teleology -- The Utilitarian Tradition -- Deontology: An Ethics of Duty and Rights -- Social Justice and Property Rights -- Environmental Ethics as Applied Ethics -- Ethics and Economics: The Cases of Forests and Pollution -- Discussion: Development Versus Preservation -- Forests: Conservation or Preservation? -- Managing the National Forests -- Pollution and Economics -- Ethical Issues in Economic Analysis -- Cost-Benefit Analysis -- Ethical Analysis and Environmental Economics -- Sustainable Economics -- Responsibilities to Future Generations: Population and Consumption -- Discussion: Population and Consumption -- Population, Consumption, and Ethics -- Do We Have Responsibilities to Future Generations? -- Responsibilities to the Future: Utilitarian Happiness -- Responsibilities to the Future: The Rights of Future People -- Responsibilities to the Future: Caring for the Future -- Do We Consume Too Much? -- Conclusion: Sustainable Living--Now and in the Future -- Responsibilities to the Natural World: From Anthropocentric to Nonanthropocentric Ethics -- Discussion: Mass Extinctions -- Moral Standing in the Western Tradition -- Early Environmental Ethics: Passmore and Blackstone -- Moral Standing: The Recent Debate -- Do Trees Have Standing? -- Responsibilities to the Natural World: The Case for Animals -- Discussion: Animal Research and Factory Farming -- Peter Singer and the Animal Liberation Movement -- Tom Regan and Animal Rights -- Ethical Implications of Animal Welfare -- Criticisms -- Theories of Environmental Ethics -- Biocentric Ethics and the Inherent Value of Life -- Discussion: Biodiversity -- Instrumental Value and Intrinsic Value -- Biocentric Ethics and the Reverence for Life -- Ethics and Character -- Taylor's Biocentric Ethics -- Practical Implications -- Challenges and Developments -- Ecology, Wilderness, and Ethics -- Discussion: Fires and Wilderness Management: The Cases of Yellowstone and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness -- The Wilderness Ideal -- The Wilderness "Myth": The Contemporary Debate -- From Ecology to Philosophy -- From Ecology to Ethics -- Varieties of Holism -- The Land Ethic -- Discussion: A Place for Predators -- The Land Ethic -- Leopold's Holism -- Criticisms of the Land Ethic: Facts and Values -- Criticisms of the Land Ethic: Holistic Ethics -- Callicott's Revisions -- Deep Ecology -- Discussion: Environmental Activism: Legal and Illegal -- The Deep Ecology Platform -- Ecology and Ecophilosophy -- Metaphysical Ecology -- From Metaphysics to Ethics -- Self-Realization and Biocentric Equality -- Criticisms -- Social Ecology and Ecofeminism -- Discussion: The World Bank Memo and the Chipko Movement -- Theories of Social Justice -- Environmental Justice and Environmental Racism -- Murray Bookchin's Social Ecology -- Critical Reflections -- Ecofeminism: Making Connections -- Ecofeminism: Recent Developments -- Epilogue: Pluralism and Pragmatism.

The book serves as an introduction to ethical theory as it applies to environmental issues, and as a casebook on contemporary problems of science, industry, and individual decision-making. It provides a readable, yet philosophically careful survey of the field of environmental ethics. It is comprehensive, covering topics from the relevance of Aristotle's ethics for environmental issues to Deep Ecology and Ecofeminism.-- Concise and easy-to-read.-- The only introductory book that covers both ethical theory and policy.-- Cases and empirical concerns integrated with philosophical discussions. Chapters begin with discussion cases and end with questions for further discussion and suggested readings.-- Epilogue on moral pluralism has been expanded to include a more thorough discussion of objectivity in ethics and diversity among ethical perspectives.