How Nature Matters - Culture, Identity, and Environmental Value

James presents an original theory of nature's value based on part-whole relations, and solves the difficult problem of how we should conceptualize nature's cultural values. This accessible, engagingly written book will be essential reading for all those who wish to understand the moral and metaphysical dimensions of environmental issues.

List of contents

• Acknowledgements


• Introduction


• PART 1: Means and Ends


• 1: Instrumentality and Causation


• 2: Cultural Ecosystem Services


• 3: Limitations of the Standard Model


• PART 2: Parts and Wholes


• 4: The Meanings of Things


• 5: Constitution


• 6: Value and Disvalue


• 7: Deep Ecology, Essentialism, Narrative, and Relational Value


• PART 3: Wider issues


• 8: Why Nature?


• 9: Beyond Value for Us


• 10: Constitution and Rights


• Conclusion


• Bibliography

About the author

Simon P. James is Professor of Philosophy at Durham University. He has written a number of articles on environmental philosophy as well as several books, including Zen Buddhism and Environmental Ethics, The Presence of Nature, and Environmental Philosophy: An Introduction.

Summary

James presents an original theory of nature's value based on part-whole relations, and solves the difficult problem of how we should conceptualize nature's cultural values. This accessible, engagingly written book will be essential reading for all those who wish to understand the moral and metaphysical dimensions of environmental issues.

Additional text

The writing is crisp, the analysis is sharp, the arguments are focused, and the view is illustrated nicely through a thoughtful study of twelve well-chosen, vignette-style examples... Simon James has delivered an intriguing, original, and welcome contribution to our thinking about values and nature in relation to our sense of identity and a meaningful life, which is beneficial to environmental thinkers across a wide variety of disciplines.

Product details

• Authors: Simon P. James, Simon P. (Professor of Philosophy James, James Simon P.
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 25.08.2022
• EAN: 9780198871613
• ISBN: 978-0-19-887161-3
• No. of pages: 184
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works; SOCIAL SCIENCE / General, Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection, PHILOSOPHY / Ethics & Moral Philosophy, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Environmental Policy, Ethics & moral philosophy, Animals & society, Environmentalist thought & ideology, Ethics and moral philosophy, Ethical issues & debates, Animals and society, Environmentalist thought and ideology, Ethical issues and debates, PHILOSOPHY / Environmental