Hugh P. McDonald's John Dewey and Environmental Philosophy breaks new ground by applying Dewey's insights to a new approach to philosophy of the environment; the concern for the rights of animals; the preservation of rare species, habitats, and landscapes; and the health of the whole ecology. The book summarizes much of the current literature on environmental ethics, concentrating on the writings of major figures in the movement: Tom Regan, J. Baird Callicott, Holmes Rolston, and Bryan Norton. The heart of the book consists of a detailed analysis of Dewey's ethics, his theory of intrinsic...

This book presents an entirely new theory of values, in the context of an environmentally centered ethic. It constitutes a major new treatment of value theory, arguing for an agent centered, active theory in which value represents creation of novelties and thereby changes the world. The book examines traditional issues like inherent value, norms, modes, meaning and other aspects of value theory in the light of the new theory, value as creative actualization. The later part of the book critically evaluates the history of value theory and argues both that it is insensitive to the environment...