An Environmental Proposal for Ethics : The Principle of Integrity

This original discussion breaks new ground by thoroughly analyzing ethical and aesthetic values, centering on the concept of ecological integrity, that apply intrinsically to nature and that govern our rightful use of the environment. Those who have been waiting for an exciting account of the inherent structure and worth of ecological systems in relation to environmental policy will find it in this book. -- Mark Sagoff, Institute of Philosophy and Public Policy, University of Maryland Westra's book is the best philosophical defense, to date, of the ecosystems approach to environmental ethics. It provides an excellent and comprehensive overview of the international literature in this area of applied ethics, and it offers the most sophisticated treatment, so far, of the philosophical concept of integrity. Philosophers and policymakers as well as students should learn from it. -- Dr. Kristin Shrader-Frechette, O'Neill Family Professor, Department of Biological Sciences & Department of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame In developing her thesis, Westra addresses many of the central issues in environmental ethics. Of interest is her comparison of the repair of damaged ecosystems to the repair of unjust social systems. Ethics: An International Journal of Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy Westra provides a lucid and sympathetic but not uncritical reconstruction of ecofeminism. She has no problem identifying patriarchy as one of the factors underlying the paradigm of objectification and domination, but considers it an oversimplification to see patriarchy as ^Rthe^I root of the problem. -- David Schmidtz, ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES