Character and Environment

Virtue ethics is now widely recognized as an alternative to Kantian andconsequentialist ethical theories. However, moral philosophers have been slow tobring virtue ethics to bear on topics in applied ethics. Moreover, environmentalvirtue ethics is an underdeveloped area of environmental ethics. Althoughenvironmental ethicists often employ virtue-oriented evaluation (such as respect,care, and love for nature) and appeal to role models (such as Henry Thoreau, AldoLeopold, and Rachel Carson) for guidance, environmental ethics has not been wellinformed by contemporary work on virtue ethics.WithCharacter and Environment, Ronald Sandler remedies each ofthese deficiencies by bringing together contemporary work on virtue ethics withcontemporary work on environmental ethics. He demonstrates the many ways that anyethic of character can and should be informed by environmental considerations. Healso develops a pluralistic virtue-oriented environmental ethic that accommodatesthe richness and complexity of our relationship with the natural environment andprovides effective and nuanced guidance on environmental issues.These projects have implications not only forenvironmental ethics and virtue ethics but also for moral philosophy more broadly.Ethical theories must be assessed on their theoretical and practical adequacy withrespect to all aspects of the human ethical situation: personal, interpersonal, andenvironmental. To the extent that virtue-oriented ethical theory in general, andSandler's version of it in particular, provides a superior environmental ethic toother ethical theories, it is to be preferred not just as an environmental ethic butalso as an ethical theory. Character and Environment willengage any reader with an interest in environmental ethics, virtue ethics, or moralphilosophy.