Ben Dixon – Toward a New Understanding of Leopold’s Land Ethic

English follows

Le Groupe de recherche en éthique environnementale et animale (GRÉEA) a le plaisir de vous inviter à son prochain événement en ligne :

Ben Dixon, Stephen F. Austin State University, “Toward a New Understanding of Leopold’s Land Ethic” (voir résumé ci-dessous). La conférence aura lieu sur ZOOM mercredi 17 mars 2021 à 14h (EDT).

La préinscription par courriel est requise : ely.mermans@umontreal.ca

Pour toute question sur l’accessibilité de l’événement, n’hésitez pas à nous contacter.

Le GRÉEA est surPeerTube, YouTube, Soundcloud

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The Research Group in Environmental and Animal Ethics (GRÉEA) is pleased to invite you to its next online event:

Ben Dixon, Stephen F. Austin State University, “Toward a New Understanding of Leopold’s Land Ethic“ (see abstract below). This event will be held via ZOOM on March 17, 2021 at 14:00(EDT).

Registration by e-mail is required: ely.mermans@umontreal.ca

For any accessibility issues, please feel free to contact us.

GRÉEA’s PeerTube, YouTube, Soundcloud channels
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Abstract
I argue that a proper understanding of Aldo Leopold’s “Land Ethic” necessitates affirming three largely unrecognized propositions. First, Leopold identifies health as a sufficient condition for moral standing; this has implications not only for ecosystems, but for individual organisms as well. Second, Leopold sets the value of health alongside other privileged values, which makes him a robust moral pluralist. Lastly, in order to negotiate competing values brought about by such pluralism, Leopold embraces a consistency maximization of values. In putting forward these ideas, I compare their reasonableness to those interpretive elements of Leopold’s most well-known articulator and defender, J. Baird Callicott. What emerges from my arguments is a new, more fitting understanding of Leopold’s Land Ethic.