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Faced with the global crisis of human caused environmental harm, this eloquently written text explores the connection between our individual virtues and vices and those of larger groups, such as societies, nations and businesses. It demonstrates how this huge collective crisis is our moral problem as individuals, and what we can do about it, together.
The book sheds light on the notion of collective character and investigates the relationship between the way we are individually and the way we are together. Drawing on research from the social sciences, it demonstrates a close correlation between our individual and collective character, highlighting the scope of our influence on others, and suggests socially possible pathways toward a fair way of life in harmony with nature and community. To implement this, Clowney argues that we must change the current extractive and wasteful methods of business, economic growth, consumption, and capitalism. Initial chapters delve into our connection to those systems and consider how these can be transformed over time, followed by seven stories exemplifying the changes required, and chapters on several environmental virtues in their individual and collective form. The book concludes with a meditation on the virtues of faith, hope, and love, which the author puts forward as ground in many traditions, and necessary to sustain the work of environmental change.
Environmental Ethics and our Collective Character will be an important discussion text for students, academics, and instructors in the field of environmental virtue ethics, virtue ethics more broadly, business ethics, political and social philosophy, and environmental and policy studies
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List of contents
Dedication Acknowledgments Introduction PART ONE Chapter One: Defining Collective Character Chapter Two: Collective Character, the Social Sciences and the Environment Chapter Three: Collective Environmental Character in Nations Chapter Four: Collective Environmental Character and Business Chapter Five: Capitalism, Economic Growth and the Environment Chapter Six: Collective Environmental Character and the Fabric of Society - Some Stories PART TWO Chapter Seven: Moderation, Courage, and Critical Awareness as Environmental Virtues Chapter Eight: The Virtue of Environmental Justice Chapter Nine: The Environmental Virtue of Biophilia Chapter Ten: The Environmental Virtue of Care for the Future Chapter Eleven: Conclusion - Faith, Hope, Love and Joy as Environmental Virtues
About the author
David Clowney is a retired philosophy professor who works and has published in the fields of environmental ethics and aesthetics. His career began with pastoral ministry and theological seminary instruction, followed by a professorship at Rowan University in New Jersey, USA.
