Richard Sylvan - Environmental Ethics and Politics

Environmental Ethics and Politics

Outside of logic and metaphysics, Sylvan was a proponent of so-called deep environmental ethics in the study of environmental ethics (following shallow/deep distinction formulated by Arne Næss). In his important 1973 paper "Is There a Need for a New, an Environmental Ethic?" he defended a then-unorthodox account of the intrinsic value of the non-human, natural world. For this he was sometimes considered a defender of deep ecology, but he was in fact very critical of much of the domain.

Beginning in the 1970s, Sylvan published several other notable articles and books on environmental ethics and isusues and he co-authored the 1994 book "The Greening of Ethics," with David Bennett. From his work in environmental ethics, Sylvan took an interest in anarchism, contributing an often-cited entry on the subject to A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy.