Environmental Pragmatism, Systematism and the Reach of Environmental Ethics

This thesis deals with, and defends the position in environmental philosophy known as environmental pragmatism. Contextualized against the dominant background of monistic non-anthropocentric theories in environmental ethics, this position attempts an alternative account both of intrinsic value in non-human nature, and of the task of ethics in itself. Presenting some contributions from such authors as Bryan Norton, Anthony Weston, Andrew Light, Kelly Parker and Ben Minteer, this work attempts to promote a stronger practical orientation in environmental ethics which seeks to help solving concrete practical problems and become relevant to environmental policy. As a continuation of this project, I suggest a further expansion which I call systematism , and which attempts to reorient ethics in light of large scale social dynamics and their implications for agency and an effective ethical framework