World Not Made for Us

Keith R. Peterson is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Colby College. His books include a translation of F. W. J. Schelling's First Outline of a System of the Philosophy of Nature, also published by SUNY Press.

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Environmental Philosophy: Anthropocentrism, Intrinsic Value, and Worldview ClashPart I: Anthropocentrism and Philosophical Anthropology 1. Anthropocentrism, Dualism, and Models of the Human2. The Unfinished AnimalPart II: The Intrinsic Value of Nature 3. The Problem of Intrinsic Value and the Primacy of Priorities4. Environmental Values and Vital Priorities5. Political Ecology and Value TheoryPart III: Ecological Ontology 6. Metascientific Stances and DependenceConclusion: A World Not Made for UsNotesWorks CitedIndex

"…this is a very detailed, effective and impressive work of environmental philosophy that features wide ranging scholarship and connects anthropological, axiological, political and metascientific considerations together in a persuasive and well worked out way." — Environmental Values"This is one of the most important contributions to contemporary environmental philosophy, especially in the areas of value theory and political ecology. Peterson undertakes crucial inquiry into the theoretical priorities that are the necessary basis for a consistent and coherent ethical theory. He launches a powerful critique of both abstract idealist and reductionist tendencies in recent environmental thought and presents incisive and groundbreaking analysis of key issues such as the nature of moral virtue and the role of the social ethos. This work will do much to deepen and enrich the theoretical discussion of basic concepts in environmental philosophy." — John P. Clark, author of Between Earth and Empire: From the Necrocene to the Beloved Community