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Boundaries: A Casebook in Environmental Ethics, 2nd edn Christine E Gudorf and James E Huchingson Georgetown University Press, 2010; 315 pages; $29.95 (softback); ISBN 9781589016361 (softback) and 9781589016859 (eBook)
Philosophers have always preoccupied themselves with thoughts that stretch to all aspects of creation. Little wonder why what is called 'environmental philosophy' emerged at the middle of the 20th century and metamorphosed in the mid-1970s into what is today known as 'environmental ethics'. Since then, environmental ethics has been variously defined to accommodate its different aspects.
Generally, environmental ethics is defined as theory and practice about appropriate concern for, values in and duties regarding the natural world. Environmental ethics starts with human concerns for a quality environment, and some think this shapes the ethic from start to finish. Others hold that, beyond inter-human concerns, values are at stake when humans relate to animals, plants, species and ecosystems. According to their vision, humans ought to find nature sometimes morally considerable in itself and this turns ethics in new directions. Issues such as the moral significance of nature, the ethical dimension of sustainability and the virtue of the environment have long taken centre stage in discussions in environmental ethics.
Boundaries: A Casebook in Environmental Ethics ('Boundaries') makes unique contributions in environmental ethics with particular emphasis on the boundaries existing among various ethical fields. Some of the unique contributions include, among other things, an appraisal of the key developments and theories that have been propounded in the field of environmental ethics over the years. This book also lays a thought-provoking emphasis on the concrete circumstances of particular localities, which offers to a large extent a rich and wide range of situations from around the globe.
Boundaries has the characteristic features of an in-depth overview of the theories of environmental ethics as well as world religions and ecology that inform substantive case studies. In the first edition, which was published in 2003, the conversation focused on the foundational nature of environmental ethics, which, according to the authors, involves virtually all other existing areas of ethics. For instance, the issue of the environment has penetrated into the ethics of public policy debates; it has equally influenced the expansion of personal ethics, more especially regarding issues such as recycling, littering, installation of...