Werte in der Natur und die Natur der Werte
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Krebs, Naturethik. Grundtexte der gegenwärtigen tier - und ökoethischen Diskussion 1997

"Werte in der Natur und die Natur der Werte," "Value in Nature and the Nature of Value." translated into German. in: Angelika Krebs, ed., Naturethik. Grundtexte der gegenwärtigen tier- und ökoethischen Diskussion (Ethics of Nature: Fundamental Texts Discussing Contemporary Animal and Ecological Ethics) (Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1997), pages 247-270. Online at: http://hdl.handle.net/10217/37450 ISBN 3-518-28862-8

Value is often thought not to exist in wild nature; it is bestowed on nature by human preferences. This prevailing account is too anthropocentric. In nature, animals value their lives; they too can have their preferences satisfied. Plants have vital needs. Species are historical forms of life defended over generations. Ecosystems are "able to generate value," as occurs with the evolution and ecological support of organisms, animals, and humans. Earth, taken as earth, dirt, seems of little intrinsic value; but Earth, the home planet, is systemically valuable, the ground of all value.

Invited conference address, Royal Society of Philosophy, Annual Conference, University of Wales, Cardiff, July 18-21, 1993.

Originally published as: "Value in Nature and the Nature of Value." In Robin Attfield and Andrew Belsey, eds., Philosophy and the Natural Environment (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), pages 13-30.