The value of nature

2021 ◽  
Vol 249 (3322) ◽  
pp. 5
Keyword(s):  
Value Of Nature

scholarly journals Practices of sustainability and the enactment of their natures/cultures: Ecosystem services, rights of nature, and geoengineering

2021 ◽  
pp. 053901842199894
Author(s):  
Frank Adloff ◽  
Iris Hilbrich
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Knowledge Cultures ◽  
Rights Of Nature ◽  
Value Of Nature ◽  
The One ◽  
And Control

Possible trajectories of sustainability are based on different concepts of nature. The article starts out from three trajectories of sustainability (modernization, transformation and control) and reconstructs one characteristic practice for each path with its specific conceptions of nature. The notion that nature provides human societies with relevant ecosystem services is typical of the path of modernization. Nature is reified and monetarized here, with regard to its utility for human societies. Practices of transformation, in contrast, emphasize the intrinsic ethical value of nature. This becomes particularly apparent in discourses on the rights of nature, whose starting point can be found in Latin American indigenous discourses, among others. Control practices such as geoengineering are based on earth-systemic conceptions of nature, in which no distinction is made between natural and social systems. The aim is to control the earth system as a whole in order for human societies to remain viable. Practices of sustainability thus show different ontological understandings of nature (dualistic or monistic) on the one hand and (implicit) ethics and sacralizations (anthropocentric or biocentric) on the other. The three reconstructed natures/cultures have different ontological and ethical affinities and conflict with each other. They are linked to very different knowledge cultures and life-worlds, which answer very differently to the question of what is of value in a society and in nature and how these values ought to be protected.

Rehabilitating Nature and Making Nature Habitable

1994 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 45-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Attfield
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Proper Role ◽  
Value Of Nature

Can nature be reconstituted, recreated or rehabilitated? And would the goal of doing so be a desirable one? There again, is wild nature intrinsically valuable, or are parks, gardens and farms sometimes preferable or of greater value? This cluster of questions arises from recent debates about preservation, restoration, wilderness and sustainable development. In discussing them I hope to throw some light on both the concept and the value of nature, and in due course on the attitudes which people should have towards it, the policies which should guide their practice, and thus on the proper role of humanity with regard to the natural world.

Ecosystem Services as a Metaphor in Environmental Law

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 525-548
Author(s):  
Justine Bell-James
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Coastal Wetland ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Value Of Nature ◽  
Commodification Of Nature

The ecosystem services concept is a useful tool in environmental law, as it allows nature to be considered on the same plane of comparison as proposed development. However, the concept has received significant criticism, with many critics arguing that nature should be valued for its intrinsic worth. This article synthesises the ethical objections to the ecosystem services concept, distinguishing objections to the concept itself, and objections to the commodification of nature. It considers how the concept has been used in Australian environmental law to date, drawing on examples from the coastal wetland context. It concludes that most applications have not involved commodification, and have incorporated notions of intrinsic value. It concludes with some observations for future progress in this field, considering how the ecosystem services concept can be balanced with concerns for respecting the intrinsic value of nature.

The intrinsic value of nature and moral education

2007 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
William S. Helton ◽  
Nicole D. Helton
Keyword(s):  
Moral Education ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Value Of Nature

scholarly journals Limestone quarries and cave protection

Ecocycles ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 18-22
Author(s):  
Szabolcs Leél-Őssy
Keyword(s):  
Economic Loss ◽  
Limestone Quarry ◽  
The Real ◽  
Difficult Question ◽  
Value Of Nature ◽  
Limestone Quarries

It happened in Hungary several times that a limestone quarry opened the entrance of a new, unknown cave during its activity such as the case was in the Villány Mountains, in Budapest, and in Kesel?, Naszály or Esztramos Hills. It is right that the natural caves are protected, but what is the solution in such cases? Closing the mine? Absolving the cave from protection? It is a difficult question. The real way: we must weigh. Which is more expensive? How valuable and unique is the cave? How big is the economic loss if we close the mine? And how serious is the harm if it is allowed to annihilate the value of nature, which is impossible to reproduce? Examples follow from Hungary.

scholarly journals PODE-SE FAZER UM RELATO PLAUSÍVEL DA HISTÓRIA DA ÉTICA? UMA ALTERNATIVA A AFTER VIRTUE DE MACINTYRE

2013 ◽  
Vol 39 (125) ◽  
pp. 345
Author(s):  
Vittorio Hösle
Keyword(s):  
History Of Philosophy ◽  
Alasdair Macintyre ◽  
Intergenerational Justice ◽  
History Of Ethics ◽  
Main Challenge ◽  
History Of ◽  
Slow Progress ◽  
Important Intermediate ◽  
Value Of Nature

O artigo apresenta uma filosofia da história da Ética que é uma alternativa ao famoso relato de Alasdair MacIntyre em After Virtue. Ainda que a querela entre visões moralistas e imoralistas ocorra diversas vezes na história da filosofia, desde os sofistas até Nietzsche, há também um lento progresso em direção ao universalismo, como foi articulado na sua forma mais elaborada por Kant. Abelardo e Tomás de Aquino são interpretados como as figuras intermediárias mais importantes entre Aristóteles e Kant, mas já o Estoicismo prepara ideias básicas kantianas. O principal desafio da Ética em nosso tempo é a expansão do universalismo para uma teoria da justiça intergeneracional e para um explicação do valor da natureza.Abstract: The essay presents a philosophy of the history of ethics that is an alternative to Alasdair MacIntyre’s famous account in After Virtue. While the quarrel between moralist and immoralist views occurs several times in the history of philosophy, from the sophists to Nietzsche, there is also a slow progress toward universalism, as it was articulated in its most elaborate form by Kant. Abelard and Aquinas are interpreted as the most important intermediate figure between Aristotle and Kant, but already Stoicism prepares basic Kantian ideas. The main challenge of the ethics of our time is the expansion of universalism to a theory of intergenerational justice and an account of the value of nature.

scholarly journals Economic Inequality and the Value of Nature

2018 ◽  
Vol 150 ◽  
pp. 340-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moritz A. Drupp ◽  
Jasper N. Meya ◽  
Stefan Baumgärtner ◽  
Martin F. Quaas
Keyword(s):  
Economic Inequality ◽  
Value Of Nature

Rights of Nature: Why it Might Not Save the Entire World

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julien Bétaille
Keyword(s):  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Philosophical Approach ◽  
Legal Personhood ◽  
Rights Of Nature ◽  
Value Of Nature ◽  
Entire World ◽  
Wide Access

The advent of Rights of Nature (RoN) marks a new paradigm shift in the philosophical approach to nature. As such, the concept has generated enthusiasm amongst environmentalists and legal scholars. This is not surprising since granting legal personhood to nature seems to present itself as a relative easy fix for the multitude of deficiencies of “modern” environmental law. However, when critically assessed, many of the underlying assumptions justifying a shift towards rights-based approaches to nature are open to challenge. In this paper, which takes a more critical stance on the topic of RoN, it is submitted that also the much-criticized modern environmental law is moving towards a recognition of the intrinsic value of nature, puts breaks on property rights, offers remediation actions for pure ecological damage and also increasingly grants environmental ngos wide access to courts. Moreover, on a second level, it is argued that RoN are not a legal revolution and that many of the problems Rights of Nature tries to cure – such as a lack of enforcement – will simply re-emerge if not adequately assessed within this novel paradigm.

scholarly journals Nature and mental health: An ecosystem service perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (7) ◽  
pp. eaax0903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory N. Bratman ◽  
Christopher B. Anderson ◽  
Marc G. Berman ◽  
Bobby Cochran ◽  
Sjerp de Vries ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Human Contact ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Value Of Nature ◽  
Service Perspective ◽  
Nature Experience

A growing body of empirical evidence is revealing the value of nature experience for mental health. With rapid urbanization and declines in human contact with nature globally, crucial decisions must be made about how to preserve and enhance opportunities for nature experience. Here, we first provide points of consensus across the natural, social, and health sciences on the impacts of nature experience on cognitive functioning, emotional well-being, and other dimensions of mental health. We then show how ecosystem service assessments can be expanded to include mental health, and provide a heuristic, conceptual model for doing so.

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