Based on either written or oral interviews with a dozen prominent environmental writers, "What s Nature Worth?" explores how the art of storytelling might bring new perspectives and insights to economic and policy discussions regarding the "value" of nature and the environment. The diverse points of view explored, and the writers insistence on careful interpretation, demonstrate that environmental values are complex, rich, and deeply felt far more so than mainstream economic methodology would have us believe. There is general consensus among the contributors that the narrative form allows for...

This comprehensive reader offers in-depth analyses of critical developments in environmental values, bringing together in one volume the most influential scholarship in the field. Each carefully selected contribution assesses some of the most pressing questions of our time, such as: what is the relationship between human values, worldviews and preferences, and the natural world? As the first reader of its kind in a rapidly expanding multidisciplinary field, this text provides students with a valuable framework for understanding the intellectual progress and future development of the study of...