As human-caused environmental degradation shows almost no signs of abating, the question of how to respectfully behave toward nature and non-human beings becomes one of the most important challenges on which our epoch calls on philosophy to do its part. The book explores possible answers to this question from a variety of perspectives within continental philosophy, Buddhist philosophy, and analytic philosophy, in the conviction that we can find the best solutions only by opening ourselves to the insights offered by the diverse traditions of thought humanity has developed throughout history and continues to cultivate, with the aim of successfully navigating this historical turn.
Part I: Fear and Eco-Anxiety: Affective Dimensions in Western Environmental Ethics analyzes the role of fear and eco-anxiety in fostering pro-environmental behaviour, from Karl Löwith's early reflections in the 1960s on the threat of the atomic war, to the most recent discussion on affectivity in environmental ethics. Part II: Arne Næss and Deep Ecology: Problems and Resources examines the notion of “ecological self” from Arne Næss' deep ecology to Joanna Macy, while also exploring possible integrations to Næss' thought through the philosophy of Nietzsche. Part III: Buddhist-Western Environmental Virtue Ethics and the Vulnerability of Nature on the one hand opens up a dialogue between Western accounts of environmental virtue ethics grounded in the Aristotelian tradition and a possible Buddhist approach to environmental virtue ethics, and, on the other hand, explores the possibility of an environmental ethics centered on the notion of vulnerability. Part IV: Buddhist-Pragmatist Approaches to Environmental Ethics focuses on a range of Buddhist perspectives on environmental ethics, from early Buddhist sources to the late Buddhist thought of the 13th-century Zen master Dogen, to the contemporary Buddhist-inspired practices of “eco-monks” in Thailand and Cambodia. Finally, Part V: Environmental Ethics and the Issue of Responsibility: A Critique from Buddhist and Western Philosophy questions fear-based approaches to environmental ethics, asking whether an ethics informed by the Heideggerian notion of Gelassenheit, understood as the letting be of beings, might offer a more promising approach to environmental ethics.