Table Of ContentNature Ethics
Studies in Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy
Series Editor: James P. Sterba, University of Notre Dame
This series analyzes and evaluates critically the major political, social, and le
gal ideals, institutions, and practices of our time. The analysis may be histor
ical or problem-centered; the evaluation may focus on theoretical underpin
nings or practical implications. Among the recent titles in the series are:
Child versus Childmaker: Present Duties and Future Persons in Ethics
and the Law
by Melinda A. Roberts
Gewirth: Critical Essays on Action, Rationality, and Community
edited by Michael Boylan
The Idea of a Political Liberalism: Essays on Rawls
edited by Victoria Davion and Clark Wolf
Self-Management and the Crisis of Socialism: The Rose in the Fist of the
Present
by Michael W. Howard
Ecofeminist Philosophy: A Western Perspective on What It Is and Why It
Matters
by Karen J. Warren
Controversies in Feminism
edited by James P. Sterba
Faces of Environmental Racism: Confronting Issues of of Global Justice,
Second Edition
edited by Laura Westra and Bill E. Lawson
Theorizing Backlash: Philosophical Reflections on the Resistance to
Feminism
by Anita M. Superson and Ann E. Cudd
Just Ecological Integrity: The Ethics of Maintaining Planetary Life
edited by Peter Miller and Laura Westra
American Heat: Ethical Problems with the United States' Response to
Global Warming
by Donald A. Brown
Exploitation: What It Is and Why It's Wrong
by Ruth J. Sample
The Principle of Fairness and Political Obligation, New Edition
by George Klosko
Moral Thinking: Reason, Aesthetics, and Pluralism
by Duane L. Cady
Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective
by Marti Kheel
Nature Ethics
An Ecofeminist Perspective
Marti Kheel
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK
ROWMAN & LITILEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Published in the United States of America
by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
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Copyright © 2008 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Kheel, Marti.
Nature ethics: an ecofeminist perspective / Marti Kheel.
p. cm. - (Studies in social, political, and legal philosophy)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7425-5200-5 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN-lO: 0-7425-5200-4 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7425-5201-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-lO: 0-7425-5201-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
I. Ecofeminism.2. Philosophy of nature. 3. Animal welfare-Moral and ethical
aspects. 4. Human-animal relationships-Philosophy. 5. Environmental ethics. 6.
Feminist ethics. 7. Holism. I. Title.
HQ1233.K48 2008
179' .1-dc22 2007023940
Printed in the United States of America
{~En; ! The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSIINISO Z39.48-1992.
Dedicated to my parents,
Ted and Ann Kheel,
who continue to inspire me
Contents
Foreword ix
Acknowledgments xi
1 Finding a Niche for All Animals in Nature Ethics
2 Masculine Identity: Born Again "Man" 35
3 Origins of the Conservation Movement: Preserving Manhood 69
4 Thinking Like a Mountain or Thinking Like a "Man"? 109
5 The Ecophilosophy of Holmes Rolston III 137
6 The Transpersonal Ecology of Warwick Fox 163
7 Ecofeminist Holist Philosophy 207
Bibliography 275
Index 313
About the Author 339
vii
Foreword
Rosemary Radford Ruether
This volume on an ecofeminist perspective on nature ethics represents a
more than twenty-five year commitment by environmental philosopher Marti
Kheel to bridge the seemingly disparate movements of feminism, environ
mental ethics, and animal liberation. Marti Kheel's work is well known in
these fields as the author of major articles that have been published in nu
merous journals and anthologies and translated into several languages. Kheel
first developed her critique of the philosophical dualisms that linked environ
mental ethics and animal rights in a 1984 article, "The Liberation of Nature:
A Circular Affair," originally published in Environmental Ethics. In 1982 she
cofounded Feminists for Animal Rights.
Marti Kheel's book, Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective, brings to
gether in a fuller form her work in earlier articles. In this book she studies the
defects and limitations of mainline environmental practice and thought.
Kheel focuses on four major founders of the environmental movement:
Theodore Roosevelt, whose concern for conservation helped set up the na
tional parks system; environmental philosopher Aldo Leopold, author of the
classic work in the field, A Sand County Almanac; leading ecophilosopher
Holmes Rolston III, author of such volumes as Conserving Natural Value
(1994); and deep ecology thinker Warwick Fox, author of such works as To
ward a Transpersonal Ecology: Developing New Foundations for Environ
mentalism (1990).
Kheel does not totally discount the contributions of these four environ
mental leaders. She expresses her appreciation for their significant contribu
tions. She credits Roosevelt as "an early harbinger of the message of limits,
the notion that abundance should not be taken for granted." Leopold's work
IX
