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The damage humans are inflicting on their environment, on other species and on their own future prospects on earth requires an urgent response - but what sort?

Contemporary debates feature a variety of views. According to some, there must be a radical transformation of the whole trajectory of development of modern societies; this implies a fundamental challenge to the attitudes and values which have prevailed in the West since the Enlightenment. Others see a wholesale rejection of modern forms of life and thought as neither realistic nor necessary, claiming that solutions to ecological problems must be sought in a more consistent application of scientific reason.

In analysing the competing arguments, the author shows that the radical claims of ecological thought must be taken seriously, but that a non-exploitative attitude to nature is consistent with a continued commitment to Enlightenment values such as democracy, human rights and the pursuit of knowledge.

This book will be of interest to all those who wish to gain a basic understanding of ecological controversies today. It will appeal to the interested lay reader and to students in environmental studies, ethics, sociology and political theory.