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Darwinian Humanism: A Proposal for Environmental Philosophy

Environmental Values 16(2007): 3-21. doi: 10.3197/096327107780160292

ABSTRACT

There are two distinct strands within modern philosophical ethics that are relevant to environmental philosophy: an empiricist strand that seeks a naturalist account of human conduct and a humanist strand rooted in a conception of transcendent human freedom. Each strand has its appeal, but each also raises both strategic and theoretical problems for environmental philosophers. Based on a reading of Kant's critical solution to the antinomy of freedom and nature, I recommend that environmental philosophers consider the possibility of a Darwinian humanism, through which moral agents are understood as both free and causally intertwined with the natural world.

KEYWORDS: Moral agency, empiricism, humanism, phenomenology, Kant, Darwin

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