This book explores the epistemological and ethical issues at the foundations of environmental philosophy, emphasizing the conservation of biodiversity. Sahota Sarkar criticizes previous attempts to attribute intrinsic value to nature and defends an anthropocentric position on biodiversity conservation based on an untraditional concept of transformative value. Unlike other studies in the field of environmental philosophy, this book is as much concerned with epistemological issues as with environmental ethics. It covers a broad range of topics, including problems of explanation and prediction in traditional ecology and how individual-based models and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology is transforming ecology. Introducing a brief history of conservation biology, Sarkar analyzes the new consensus framework for conservation planning through adaptive management. He concludes with a discussion of the future directions for theoretical research in conservation biology and environmental philosophy.

Sahotra Sarkar is a Professor in the Departments of Philosophy and Integrative Biology at the University of Texas, Austin. He came to Texas after teaching at Boston and McGill Universities and holding fellowships at MIT and the Max Planck Institute. A specialist in the history and philosophy of science, he has particular interests in both philosophy of biology and physics.

Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. Concerns for the environment; 3. Intrinsic values and biocentrism; 4. Tempered anthropocentrism; 5. Problems of ecology; 6. The consensus view of conservation biology; 7. Incommensurability and uncertainty; 8. Conclusion: issues for the future; References; Index.