The Land Ethic, Moral Development, and Ecological Rationality

Southern Journal of Philosophy 45 (1):149-175 (2007)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

There has been significant debate over both the imiplications and the merit of Leopold's land ethic. I consider the two most prominent objections and a resolution to them. One of these objections is that, far from being an alternative to an “economic” or cost‐benefit perspective on environmental issues, Leopold's land ethic merely broadens the range of economic considerations to be used in addressing such issues. The other objection is that the land ethic is a form of “environmental fascism” because it subordinates the welfare of humans to the good of the ecological whole. I argue that these objections are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of his theory by advocates and detractors alike. The land ethic is centrally a psychological theory of moral development and ecological rationality that advocates a shift in the way that environmental problems are conceptualized and approached.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,221

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Animal Liberation.J. Baird Callicott - 1980 - Environmental Ethics 2 (4):311-338.
Is Hunting a Right Thing?Charles J. List - 1997 - Environmental Ethics 19 (4):405-416.
On the Moral Significance of a Hunting Ethic.Charles J. List - 1998 - Ethics and the Environment 3 (2):157 - 175.
Holists and Fascists and Paper Tigers...Oh My!Michael P. Nelson - 1996 - Ethics and the Environment 1 (2):103 - 117.

Analytics

Added to PP
2009-01-28

Downloads
175 (#102,274)

6 months
8 (#156,791)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Charles Starkey
Clemson University

Citations of this work

Emotion and Full Understanding.Charles Starkey - 2008 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 11 (4):425-454.
Land Ethic? What Land Ethic?Craig Steele - 2011 - Ethics, Policy and Environment 14 (3):297 - 300.
The Land Ethic and the Significance of the Fascist Objection.Håkan Salwén - 2014 - Ethics, Policy and Environment 17 (2):192-207.

Add more citations