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In this book, Leif DeVaney brings the traditional philosophical branches of metaphysics and ethics to bear on conservation biology. While many previous attempts at asking and answering ethical questions related to conservation and other environmentally relevant activities exist, few such attempts have engaged adequately with the rock bottom approach of metaphysics. Through this metaphysically realistic lens, the ontological
status of the population (as well as other ecological wholes ) is challenged. DeVaney argues that individual nonhuman animals are found to have interests that parallel human interests. These include the biotic goals of survival and reproduction, as well as freedom from undue pain and suffering. From an ethical standpoint, the conclusion differs drastically from the dominant consequentialist contention that the good of some can be sacrificed for the supposed greater good of the many. DeVaney initiates the establishment of the subdiscipline of conservation metaphysics, which naturally leads to a theoretically grounded ethic.
List of contents
Chapter 1. Introduction.- Part I Conservation Biology: Meaning and Metaphysics.- Chapter 2. The Meaning of Conservation Biology.- Chapter 3. Large Versus Small Wholes.- Chapter 4. The Soft View of Populations.- Part II Ethics and Conservation.- Chapter 5. Killing and Conservation: A Case Study of the Gray Wolf.- Chapter 6. Questioning Killing .- Chapter 7. Balancing Welfare and Ecology.- Chapter 8. The Alien Encounter Thought Experiment.- Part III Practice.- Chapter 9. Wildlife Rehabilitation: Background.- Chapter 10. Minnesota Rehab: A Tale of Two Centers.- Chapter 11. Participant Observation and Reflections on Rehabbing.- Chapter 12. Discussion and Conclusion: From Metaphysician to Physician.
