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Understanding Leopold’s Concept of “Interdependence” for Environmental Ethics and Conservation Biology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Roberta L. Millstein
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Abstract

Aldo Leopold’s land ethic, an extremely influential view in environmental ethics and conservation biology, is committed to the claim that interdependence between humans, other species, and abiotic entities plays a central role in our ethical responsibilities. Thus, a robust understanding of “interdependence” is necessary for evaluating the viability of the land ethic and related views, including ecological ones. I characterize and defend a Leopoldian concept of “interdependence,” arguing that it ought to include both negative and positive causal relations. I also show that strength and type of interdependence can vary with time, space, and context.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 85 , Issue 5 , December 2018 , pp. 1127 - 1139
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

†

Thanks to Chris Eliot, Alkistis Elliott-Graves, Curt Meine, Steve Peck, Tami Schneider, Julianne Warren, and the Griesemer/Millstein Lab for helpful comments.

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