Environmental justice

Book

Environmental justice / Peter S. Wenz.

Summary:

This book explores the philosophical background of questions on environmental justice. It focuses on theories of distributive justice, primarily those which concern the manner in which benefits and burdens should be allocated when there is a scarcity of benefits (relative to people’s wants or needs) and a surfeit of burdens. It is one of those rare philosophy books that is at once accessible and sophisticated, as it introduces both philosophers and people interested in environmental studies, law, and economics to germane developments in the philosophical treatment of the question of justice. Since environmental concerns are uniquely global, theories of distributive justice are tested most thoroughly for their comprehensiveness when they are applied to environmental matters. Consequently, most illustrations and applications in this book are drawn from contexts of environmental concerns including property rights, human rights, animal rights, general utility, and hypothetical contracts.

Record details

ISBN: 0887066445
ISBN: 9780887066443
ISBN: 0887066453
ISBN: 9780887066450
Physical Description: xiv, 368 pages ; 24 cm.
Publisher: Albany : State University of New York Press, ©1988.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:: Includes bibliographical references (pages 344-361) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:: The importance of environmental justice -- Principles of justice -- Property and virtue -- Property and liberty: the libertarian theory -- Property and efficiency: the efficiency theory -- Human rights -- Animal rights -- The utilitarian theory -- The limits of utilitarianism -- The nature and limits of cost-benefit analysis -- John Rawls's theory of justice -- The structure of inquiry -- Biocentric individualism and ecocentric holism -- The concentric circle theory -- The individual obligations.