Bryan G. NortonCambridge University PressEdition: Illustrated, 10/17/2002EAN 9780521809900, ISBN10: 0521809908Hardcover, 566 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 3.2 cmLanguage: EnglishOriginally published in EnglishThis book examines from a multidisciplinary viewpoint the question of what we mean - what we should mean - by setting sustainability as a goal for environmental management. The author, trained as a philosopher of science and language, explores ways to break down the disciplinary barriers to communication and deliberation about environment policy, and to integrate science and evaluations into a more comprehensive environmental policy. Choosing sustainability as the keystone concept of environmental policy, the author explores what we can learn about sustainable living from the philosophy of pragmatism, from ecology, from economics, from planning, from conservation biology and from related disciplines. The idea of adaptive, or experimental, management provides the context, while insights from various disciplines are integrated into a comprehensive philosophy of environmental management. The book will appeal to students and professionals in the fields of environmental policy and ethics, conservation biology, and philosophy of science.General introductionan interdisciplinary experiment. Part I. Pragmatism as an Environmental Philosophy1. The constancy of Leopold's land ethic2. Thoreau and Leopold on science and values3. Integration or reductiontwo approaches to environmental values4. Convergence corroborateda comment on Arne Naess on wolf policies5. Pragmatism, adaptive management, and sustainabilityPart II. Science, Policy, and Policy Science6. What is a conservation biologist?7. Biological resources and endangered specieshistory, values, and policy8. Leopold as practical moralist and pragmatic policy analyst9. Improving ecological communicationPart III. Economics and Environmental Sustainability10. Sustainability, human welfare, and ecosystem health11. Economists' preferences and the preferences of economists12. Evaluating ecosystem statestwo competing paradigms13. The evolution of preferencesWhy 'sovereign' preferences may not lead to sustainable policies and what to do about it14. Sustainabilityecological and economic perspectivesPart IV. Scaling SustainabilityEcology as if Humans Mattered15. Context and hierarchy in Aldo Leopold's theory of environmental management16. Scale and biodiversitya hierarchical approach17. Ecological integrity and social valuesat what scale18. Change, constancy, and creativitythe new ecology and some old problems19. Democracy and sense of place valuesPart V. Some Elements of a Philosophy of Sustainable Living20. Caring for naturea broader look at animal stewardship21. Can there be a universal earth ethic? Reflections on the earth charter22. Intergenerational equity and sustainabilityPart VI. Valuing SustainabilityToward a More Comprehensive Approach to Environmental Evaluation23. Commodity, amenity, and moralitythe limits of quantification in valuing biodiversity24. The cultural approach to conservation biology25. Evaluation and ecosystem managementnew directions needed?26. What do we owe the future? An argument for introducing wolves into Adirondack Park27. Environmental values and adaptive management."[R]eaders with interests in environmental science and conservation biology will find insight and mature, thoughful discussion well founded in the social and life sciences as well as the humanities." Choice "...inspiring and thought-provoking as well as wide-ranging...This book would be excellent for an undergraduate or graduate student discussion of public policy and philosophy, and as background reading on the complexities of sustainability." Edward J. Valauskas, Manager, Chicago Botanic Garden "This is an excellent book ... [Norton] provide a useful service by consolidating his considerable past contributions to the field of environmental philosophy under one cover." The Quarterly Review of Biology "This is a grand, yet warmly human book, well worth having on the shelf as food for thought and as a reference on a range of topics that truly matter." Environmental Ethics
