Callicott on intrinsic value and moral standing in environmental ethics. An international group of scholars representing philosophy, ecology, ecofeminism, native american studies, political science, and religion studies critically assesses callicotts contributions to environmental ethics and philosophy and presents alternative perspectives from their own work. Though it may appear quite basic at first glance, the concept of iv is complex, with philosophically rich ontological, epistemological, and ethical dimensions see box 1. The intrinsic value innature question has been, and remains, the. Callicott and environmental philosophy because they. An anthropocentric value theory or axiology, by common consensus, confers intrinsic value on human beings and regards all other things, including other forms of life, as being only instru mentally valuable, i. He was selected as humboldt state universitys outstanding professor for 1991 and as 1992 outstanding professor for the 20campus california state university. Baird callicott, intrinsic value, quantum theory, and environmental ethics, in his in defense of the land ethic new york. Callicott, intrinsic value, quantum theory and environmental ethics, p. It was in this book that he placed man in an ecological niche. Quantum theory, intrinsic value, and panentheism michael e. In this wireless philosophy video, kelley schiffman yale university distinguishes two different kinds of value. Baird callicott born 1941 is an american philosopher whose work has been at the forefront.
In environmental ethics, holmes rolston iii claims that environmental ethics asks. Intrinsic value is an ethical and philosophic property. The paper offers this aesthetic version as a theistic way of explaining how the natural world can be thought valuable independently of human desires and purposes. This paper provides an overview of the multiple types of intrinsic value. In environmental ethics, the attribution to nature of aesthetic value, commonly as an instance of intrinsic value. This research describes an overview and analysis of intrinsic value.
Objectivist theories of intrinsic value request pdf. An intrinsic theory of quantum mechanics philsciarchive. Quantum theory, intrinsic value, and panentheism michael. Nonanthropocentric value theory and environmental ethics. It is a matter of debate whether anything at all has intrinsic value. Baird callicott seeks to resolve the problem of the intrinsic value of nature by utilizing a nondualistic paradigm derived from. The term intrinsic value signifies recognition of fundamental goodness in the world e. Callicotts book in defense of the land ethic 1989 explores the intellectual. Intrinsic value, quantum theory, and environmental ethics, environmental ethics 7 1985. Baird callicott, intrinsic value, quantum theory, and environmental eth ics, environmental ethics 7 1985 25775, a 257t. Intrinsic value, quantum theory, and environmental ethics j. Baird callicott claims that how to discover intrinsic value in nature is the defining problem for environmental ethics callicott 1999.
For, without further argument, we are left with an environmental ethic that directly enfranchises only individual organisms. Baird callicott born 1941 is an american philosopher whose work has been at the forefront of the new field of environmental philosophy and ethics. Intrinsic value is located in the flourishing of living creatures. Theory, and environmental ethics in 1985, however, callicott confessed that value subjectivism rests on the. The central and most recalcitrant problem for environmental ethics is the problem of constructing an adequate theory of intrinsic value for nonhuman natural entities and for nature as. Baird callicott, one of the worlds foremost environmental philosophers. Intrinsic value, environmental ethics, and adam smith for better or worse, intrinsic value is a central concept in contemporary environmental ethics. Intrinsic irreversibility in quantum theory it is often stated that dirac gave in 1926 a quantum theoretical formulation of einsteins radiation theory 12. The big questions contextualizes environmental ethics within the history of western intellectual tradition and traces the development of theory since the 1970s.
Baird callicott papers, 19632010 university archives. Intrinsic value is the discounted value of the cash that can be taken out of a business during its remaining life. It it always valuable, and should be valued, regardless of how the world is, or who has what interests and desires. Baird callicott, intrinsic value, quantum theory, and. The practitioners of this theory can only salvage it by referring to a supernatural power the confers value on the object. Intrinsic value definition of intrinsic value by medical. The land aesthetic and intrinsic value, quantum theory, and environmental ethics. Article 31, luxembourg, 2012 deborah oughton overview history of environmental ethics ethical considerations in protecting the environment perception of nature theories of environmental ethics recent developments ecological economics remediation implications for policy and research. I will then discuss why quantum theory may seem to resist the intrinsic and nominalistic reformulation. The conviction that one simply does not know whether god exists or not. The locus of value or rights is the instance, level, or locale of such. Whether this supernatural power is a god, or a nonintelligent force doesnt matter. Moral pluralism and the course of environmental ethics christopher d.
In its broadest sense, value theory is a catchall label used to encompass all branches of moral philosophy, social and political philosophy, aesthetics, and sometimes feminist philosophy and the philosophy of religion whatever areas of philosophy are deemed to encompass some evaluative aspect. An object with intrinsic value may be regarded as an end or in kantian terminology endinitself intrinsic value is a term employed in axiology, the study of quality or value. Pdf postmodernism, value and objectivity researchgate. I see two great problems with this approach to environmental value. Intrinsic definition of intrinsic by the free dictionary. Anthropocentrism the inadequacy of traditional ethical theories was initially attributed to their anthropocentrism i. It is the ethical philosophic value that an object has in itself.
The central and most recalcitrant problem for environmental ethics is the problem of constructing an adequate theory of intrinsic value for nonhuman natural. This work defends an interrelated set of theses in valuetheory, normative ethics and metaethics. According to his less radical approach, quantum theory shows that properties once considered to be primary and objective are in fact the products of interactions. Philosophers have characterized these dimensions differently, and it would be. First of all, it assumes that we have priced everything properly and, second, that there is an appropriate price. I call this theory, a call for intrinsic value in nature. Cheney and the myth of postmodernism mick smith 14. This paper draws on some lines of thought in kants critique of judgment to construct an aesthetic counterpart to the moral argument for the existence of god that kant formulates in the critique of practical reason.
Includes an extended introduction that provides an historical and thematic introduction to the field of environmental ethics features a selection of brief original. The real problem with intrinsic value is that it denies the need of an objective moral standard. Whilst mathematics is central to the determination of intrinsic value consider this quote from john maynard keynes. Part one value defends a biocentric theory of moral standing, and then the coherence and objectivity of belief in intrinsic value, despite recent objections. An international group of scholars representing philosophy, ecology, ecofeminism, native american studies, political science, and religion. Norwegian university of life sciences ethical aspects. A noteworthy feature of the book is callicotts own response to his critics. Book chapters and articles, no date chapters from a book, articles and a paper by catriona sandilands make up the contents of this folder. In the literature on environmental ethics the distinction between instrumental value and intrinsic value meaning noninstrumental value has been of considerable importance. This book brings together in one volume a series of essays that have been seminal in the.
Land, value, community provides an indepth critical study of the theories of j. One of his early articles follows peter singer in calling for rights. This is only partially true, as dirac derived einsteins spontaneous coefficients only to the lowest order of perturbation, while quantum transitions are obviously a physical phenomenon. Baird callicott seeks to resolve the problem of the intrinsic value of nature by utilizing a nondualistic paradigm derived from quantum theory. A purely rationalistic theory of ethics puts the cart before the horse. Environmental ethics catholic university of america press. With the publication of intrinsic value, quantum theory, and environmental ethics in 1985, however, callicott confessed that value subjectivism rests on the dualism of mind and body, subject and object, characteristic of the waning cartesiannewtonian world view, and formulated a relational theory of intrinsic value inspired by the new. He wants to claim, as a helpful insight in environmental ethics, that humans are. Quantum physics, postmodern scientific worldview, and callicotts. His later views can be found in callicott, intrinsic value, quantum theory, and environmental. Introduction many of the environmental catastrophes that have happened before and others that are happening in our time have been caused or intensified by human activity. The central and most recalcitrant problem for environmental ethics is the problem of constructing an adequate theory of intrinsic value for nonhuman natural entities and for nature as a whole. Something with intrinsic value, on the other hand, cannot lose its value this way.