Surv. Perspect. Integr. Environ. Soc., 1, 51-57, 2008
www.surv-perspect-integr-environ-soc.net/1/51/2008/
doi:10.5194/sapiens-1-51-2008
© Author(s) 2008. This work is distributed
under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
 
18 Jun 2008
The transformative value of ecological pragmatism: an introduction to the work of Bryan G. Norton
H.-S. Afeissa
Académie de Dijon, France

Abstract. In the space of only a few years, Bryan Norton has become one of the essential actors of environmental ethics through his launching of what has become one of its dominant trends: environmental pragmatism. Environmental pragmatism refuses to take a stance in the dispute between the defenders of anthropocentrist ethics and the supporters of nonanthropocentrist ethics. Instead, Norton prefers to distinguish between "strong anthropocentrism'' and "weak- or extended- anthropocentrism'' and develops the idea that only the latter is capable of not under-estimating the diversity of instrumental values that humans may derive from the natural world. The practical difference between these two kinds of theories is considerable.

Citation: Afeissa, H.-S.: The transformative value of ecological pragmatism: an introduction to the work of Bryan G. Norton, Surv. Perspect. Integr. Environ. Soc., 1, 51-57, doi:10.5194/sapiens-1-51-2008, 2008.
 
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