Abstract
Sahotra Sarkar’s Biodiversity and environmental philosophy, An introduction is an important
and timely book. The book is unique in that it is genuinely interdisciplinary: Sarkar is
not only an observer, but also an active participant in the new field of conservation biology,
and so, his book not only reviews the best recent science, but also advances it. The
book is thus exemplary of both a naturalized approach to philosophy of science and a scientifically informed approach to environmental ethics. The book has four parts: a defense
of biodiversity preservation, a systematic overview of ecological theory as it pertains to
conservation, a critical history of conservation biology, and a discussion of how to prioritize
places for conservation. Sarkar integrates nicely the normative and scientific aspects
of the problem of conservation.