A Morally Deep World
An Essay on Moral Significance and Environmental Ethics

Lawrence E. Johnson (Author)

9780521447065, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 29 January 1993

312 pages
22.9 x 15.3 x 2.1 cm, 0.435 kg

'On the green side of politics and philosophical thought, many want to claim that all living things should be protected from harm, irrespective of their value for human beings. They assert that plants, species, and ecosystems as a whole, have intrinsic moral value. I know of no better attempt to present a rational and argued defence of such a claim than Lawrence Johnson's A Morally Deep World.' Peter Singer, Monash University

Lawrence Johnson advocates a major change in our attitude toward the nonhuman world. He argues that nonhuman animals, and ecosystems themselves, are morally significant beings with interests and rights. The author considers recent work in environmental ethics in the introduction and then presents his case with the utmost precision and clarity. Written in an attractive, nontechnical style, the book will be of particular interest to philosophers, environmentalists and ecologists.

Introduction: Towards the horizons of the moral universe
1. Some background - much of which is still in the foreground
2. Sweet reason
3. A matter of interest
4. Holism
5. A brief essay on the limitations of moral theory
6. Eco-interests
7. Deep and shallow.

Subject Areas: Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ]