Life's intrinsic value : science, ethics, and nature

Nicholas Agar

Are bacteriophage T4 and the long-nosed elephant fish valuable in their own right? Nicholas Agar defends an affirmative answer to this question by arguing that anything living is intrinsically valuable. This claim challenges received ethical wisdom according to which only human beings are valuable in themselves. The resulting biocentric or life-centered morality forms the platform for an ethic of the environment. Agar builds a bridge between the biological sciences and what he calls "folk" morality to arrive at a workable environmental ethic and a new spectrum -- a new hierarchy -- of living organisms. The book overturns common-sense moral belief as well as centuries of philosophical speculation on the exclusive moral significance of humans. Spanning several fields, including philosophy of psychology, philosophy of science, and other areas of contemporary analytic philosophy, Agar analyzes and speaks to a wide array of historic and contemporary views, from Aristotle and Kant, to E. O. Wilson, Holmes Rolston II, and Baird Callicot. The result is a challenge to prevailing definitions of value and a call for a scientifically-informed appreciation of nature.

「Nielsen BookData」より

Are bacteriophage T4 and the long-nosed elephant fish valuable in their own right? Nicholas Agar defends an affirmative answer to this question by arguing that anything living is intrinsically valuable. This claim challenges received ethical wisdom according to which only human beings are valuable in themselves. The resulting biocentric or life-centered morality forms the platform for an ethic of the environment. Agar builds a bridge between the biological sciences and what he calls "folk" morality to arrive at a workable environmental ethic and a new spectrum -- a new hierarchy -- of living organisms. The book overturns common-sense moral belief as well as centuries of philosophical speculation on the exclusive moral significance of humans. Spanning several fields, including philosophy of psychology, philosophy of science, and other areas of contemporary analytic philosophy, Agar analyzes and speaks to a wide array of historic and contemporary views, from Aristotle and Kant, to E. O. Wilson, Holmes Rolston II, and Baird Callicot. The result is a challenge to prevailing definitions of value and a call for a scientifically-informed appreciation of nature.

「Nielsen BookData」より

[目次]

  • 1. The Psychological View of Intrinsic Value2. Science's Bridge from Nature to Value3. Overlapping Kinds and Value4. Recent Defenses of Biocentrism5. A Morally Specialized Account of Life6. The Contents of Biopreferences7. Species and Ecosystems8. An Impossible Ethic?

「Nielsen BookData」より

[目次]

  • 1. The Psychological View of Intrinsic Value2. Science's Bridge from Nature to Value3. Overlapping Kinds and Value4. Recent Defenses of Biocentrism5. A Morally Specialized Account of Life6. The Contents of Biopreferences7. Species and Ecosystems8. An Impossible Ethic?

「Nielsen BookData」より

この本の情報

書名 Life's intrinsic value : science, ethics, and nature
著作者等 Agar, Nicholas
出版元 Columbia University Press
刊行年月 c2001
ページ数 x, 200 p.
大きさ 24 cm
ISBN 0231117876
0231117868
NCID BA53095508
※クリックでCiNii Booksを表示
言語 英語
出版国 アメリカ合衆国
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