Environmental Values
Environmental Values 15(2006): 331-341. doi: 10.3197/096327106778226266
ABSTRACT
This paper explores the idea that a proper valuing of natural environments is essential to (and not just a natural basis for) a broader human virtue that might be called 'appreciation of the good'. This kind of valuing can explain, without any commitment to a metaphysics of intrinsic values, how and why it is good to value certain natural phenomena for their own sakes. The objection that such an approach is excessively human-centred is considered and rebutted.
KEYWORDS: Intrinsic value, value in nature, anthropocentrism, virtue ethics
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