Overview

If we are part of the environment - and we are - what are the limits, the boundaries, of human intervention in the environment? Environmental ethics involves virtually all other existing areas of ethics and James Huchingson and Christine Gudorf set out to explore the line that separates the current state of the environment from what it should be in the future, along the way systematically investigating the crucial and prevailing issues of technology, business, medicine, and bioethics. Beginning with an overview of the field, the authors highlight key developments and schools of thought in the environmentalist movement, then proceed to lay out a series of cases on such topics as: preservation of the Everglades; use of pesticides in developing countries; preserving ecosystems in Madagascar; the battle over deforestation in Java; disposing of nuclear waste in Nevada; the human cost of restoring coral reefs in Indonesia; the impact of hydropower via US rivers; desertification in China; restoring degraded ecosystems in Nebraska; the legitimacy of genetically modified foods; hunting and the human presence in nature; and xenotransplantation (implantations of living cells from other species). Boundaries is a vigorous case-study textbook on environmental ethics featuring an appendix for teachers on how to use the cases in the classroom. The analysis is accessible, open and inclusive, inviting the reader to participate in applying existing theory in environmental ethics, testing and correcting it in real situations, and devising new theory that contributes to the growth and maturity of this developing field on which the health and welfare of the world environment depend. The case studies in this volume bring into sharp focus a clearer understanding of the human place in the environment, and an understanding of the environment that should guide both public policy and individual lifestyle decisions, bringing new urgency to the task of sustaining the biosphere.

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9780878401345

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Reviews

This is a valuable contribution for teachers and students in environmental ethics. It is clearly written and accessible. The introduction provides a good overview of relevant debates, issues, and thinkers in environmental philosophy. The case studies are wide-ranging and well researched, and they demonstrate the wide range of practical situations in which environmental ethics are relevant. The book offers students and teachers many opportunities to debate not only environmental ethics but also the ways that environmental, economic, cultural, and political issues are intimately connected.

Boundaries is worth the purchase price just for the quality of the case studies it offers. These excellently written case studies present each alternative view fairly in the midst of a complex situation, leaving the reader with no easy choice about the best course of action in each situation. Not only is this balanced presentation an effective use of the case study method, but it is true to life in reflecting the tough choices that must be confronted in most environmental ethics situations. Wise guidance about the proper utilization of case studies in the classroom is included in a concluding chapter. Boundaries is a wonderfully written book that would be useful as a text for an environmental ethics class or as an introduction for anyone to environmental issues. -- Journal of Church and State This text breaks new ground in its uses of virtue ethics, comparative religious approaches, and international policy ethics. Its excellent cases and succinct commentaries make it invaluable for classroom use. -- Religious Studies Review

Author Information

Christine E. Gudorf is professor of religious studies at Florida International University. She was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Indonesia in 2002. She is the coauthor of Christian Ethics: A Case Method Approach and author of Body, Sex, and Pleasure: Reconstructing Christian Sexual Ethics. James E. Huchingson is professor emeritus, Department of Religious Studies, Florida International University. He is the editor of Religion and the Natural Sciences: The Range of Engagement and author of Pandemonium Tremendum: Chaos and Mystery in the Life of God.

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