Political Theory and Ecological Values

This book shows why political theorists must take account of ecological concerns as part of their core enterprise, and how they can do so. It mounts a challenge to the received wisdom, of political theorists and their ecological critics alike, that specifically ecological values go against human interests. In Part I, Hayward criticizes those accounts of ecological values which appeal to natures intrinsic value or advocate a nonanthropolocentric ethic. Such appeals are bound to fail, he argues, not because their moral impulse is too demanding but because values unrelated to human interests are conceptually incoherent. Insisting on them is politically counterproductive. Part II reveals how it is actually in humans interests to integrate ecological concern into political institutions and policies. Following a nuanced discussion of selfinterest, Hayward goes on to show how some ecological problems can be solved by harnessing humans rational selfinterest to marketbased and fiscal policies, and others by using more enlightened interests in the provision of social goods. The argument regarding ecological problems that affect nonhumans more directly than humans is that humans have an interest in selfrespect and integrity which provides reasons to respect nonhuman beings and their environmental interests. The concluding chapter indicates how the articulation of ecological values in terms of interests makes it possible to integrate them into a political theory of basic social institutions. This book will be of interest to students and scholars in political theory and environmental studies.