Political Theory and Ecological Values

Tim Hayward makes a compelling case for the incorporation of environmental questions into the heart of mainstream political theory--rather than seeing these issues as an optional add-on or the preserve of specialized green political theorists; he also argues that the core arguments of more radical, ecologistic thinking--the search for intrinsic value and moral foundations in ecology and the rejection of anthropocentrism--are more likely to provide a compelling basis for doing so. However, the natural relations that humans beings enter into with their environment including non-humans, the natural limits of human development and the natural capacities of human beings have significant implications and constraints for what the account political theory provides for: the treatment of non-humans, rights and notion of the good and the good life. This book explores the ways in which those constraints impact upon political theory in those areas.