Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective (Studies in Social, Political, & Legal Philosophy) [Paperback]

Marti Kheel (Author), Rosemary Radford Ruether (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0742552012 | ISBN-13: 978-0742552012 | Publication Date: December 6, 2007

In Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective, Marti Kheel explores the underlying worldview of Onature ethics,O offering an alternative ecofeminist perspective. She focuses on four prominent representatives of holist philosophy: two early conservationists (Theodore Roosevelt and Aldo Leopold) and two contemporary philosophers (Holmes Rolston III, and transpersonal ecologist Warwick Fox). Kheel argues that in directing their moral allegiance to abstract constructs (e.g. Ospecies,O Othe ecosystem,O or Othe transpersonal SelfO) these influential nature theorists represent a masculinist orientation that devalues concern for individual animals. Seeking to heal the divisions among the seemingly disparate movements and philosophies of feminism, animal advocacy, environmental ethics, and holistic health, Kheel proposes an ecofeminist philosophy that underscores the importance of empathy and care for individual beings as well as larger wholes.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Why do so many environmentalists proclaim their love of nature but romanticize hunting and eat meat? Nature Ethics offers significant insight. There is very little that Kheel does not explore; reading Nature Ethics is like taking a fine course at a university. I would buy this book for the section on 'Vegan Practice alone.' Hats off to Marti Kheel and this wonderful book! (Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson )

[This is a] comprehensive and fair-minded account of the contrasting positions, particularly with respect to animals, between ecofeminist nature ethics and the celebrated holistic views of Theodore Roosevelt, Aldo Leopold, Holmes Rolston III, and Warwick Fox. Anyone interested in women’s studies, animal welfare, hunting, vegetarianism, or environmental ethics will find this impressive book helpful and challenging. (Wenz, Peter )

Nature Ethics is a major contribution to ecofeminist philosophy, animal liberation, and environmental ethics. Marti Kheel provides an invaluable critique of the ecological position that accepts violence toward individual beings while professing love and respect for the larger natural world. (Carol J. Adams )

Kheel’s book is a ground-breaking contribution to the literature and a must-read for anyone concerned with the links between environmental ethics, animal liberation and feminist critique of male cultural bias. (Ruether, Rosemary Radford )

A major figure in ecofeminism, Kheel's original thinking about nature ethics culminates in this sweeping volume. She offers vital insights into the destructive consequences of a detached masculine self-identity, and a path toward the development of a genuinely inclusive nature ethic that respects all living beings. (Gaard, Greta )

Review

"Nature Ethics provides a comprehensive and fair-minded account of the contrasting positions, particularly with respect to animals, between ecofeminist nature ethics and the celebrated holistic views of Theodore Roosevelt, Aldo Leopold, Holmes Rolston III, and Warwick Fox. Anyone interested in women's studies, animal advocacy, hunting, vegetarianism, or environmental ethics will find this impressive book helpful and challenging."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 354 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (December 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0742552012
• ISBN-13: 978-0742552012
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #119,081 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #47 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Animal Rights

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Customer Reviews

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The earth does not belong to us, We belong to the Earth., May 21, 2008

By 

N. Ivey - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective (Studies in Social, Political, & Legal Philosophy) (Paperback)

In her recent book, "Nature Ethics," philosopher Marti Kheel activates my sympathy with "other than human" individuals. Like Chief Seattle spoke, animals are our sisters and brothers. Kheel examines the holist nature philosophers prevalent in the field of environmental ethics. After explaining their contributions, she critiques their platforms including hyper-masculinity, ecosystems, ethics, and Deep Ecology. She consistently uncovers a focus on the abstract or universal "whole" embodied in generic concepts like "species" and "ecosystems," rather than a concern for particular individuals like the deer fleeing the hunter's bullet, or a doomed cow interred in a slaughterhouse. After defining the characteristic thought in the literature, Kheel disseminates the dominant zeitgesit of ecofeminism. I wrote a paper on ecofemnism and Kheel's book covers the field. She explains the "ethics of care" and applies it to care for particular others within nature, such as the domesticated animals raised for food and research. She describes "allopathic ethics." For instance, modern medicine meets a health challenge with battle, to radiate and poison the cancer tumor. ALternative medicine restores the strength of the person by reducing what makes them sick in the first place therefore restoring innate balance. To understand why humans devalue nature, Kheel researches the psycho-social underpinnings of gender development.The book ends with the stories of "other-than human" individuals such as the pig profiled in the movie "Babe" or the actual story of "Emily the cow" who in 1994 escaped a slaughterhouse in Boston. Kheel validates emotions and motivates people to refrain from killing by adopting a vegan lifestyle in response to animal suffering. As a lacto-ovo vegetarian, I admire Kheel's commitment and her invitation to join an ethics of care for particular individuals as exemplified in her vegan ecofeminist philosophy. I highly recommend this book as a great review of ecofeminism and ecological philosophy. Kheel has been writing about this subject in journals and books for many years and is widely cited in the literature.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Read for Scholar-Activists, September 28, 2008

By 

Brianne Donaldson (Claremont CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective (Studies in Social, Political, & Legal Philosophy) (Paperback)

For scholar-activists concerned with systemic connections between animal, environmental and human oppression, Nature Ethics provides a lens through which to examine other philosophies, theologies and political and environmental theories. Exploring the connection that Kheel makes between human violence and socially constructed masculine identity is like donning a pair of 3-D glasses that exposes previously unseen dualisms in even the most esteemed perspectives on animal rights, Gandhian nonviolence, environmental protection and ecological holism.

The ecofeminist invitation to develop empathethic relationships with individual beings validates the experiences with animal suffering that move many toward activism in the first place. Kheel's refusal to rely solely on the "conceptual force" of rational arguments make her final call to a conscious ethos of contexualized care toward nature and individual other-than-human animals hard to resist. If you have ever been frustrated by rational or spiritual systems that don't seem to wed theory with praxis, Nature Ethics may illuminate why.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Critical questions about the ethics of relationships with nature, March 26, 2009

By 

Debra Durham "Real-life Dr. Doolittle. Do-go... (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective (Studies in Social, Political, & Legal Philosophy) (Paperback)

As an animal behaviorist, I find that one of the most rewarding and challenging aspects of my work is telling animals' stories. Telling the stories of nature and telling the stories of animals per se share many of the same inherent challenges and duties. When we tell our own stories, we have a duty to self and perhaps a duty to our audience, when there is one. When we tell stories that are not our own, we also have a duty to the other parties involved - especially when they cannot or do not take part in the telling.

In Nature ethics: An ecofeminist perspective Marti Kheel does a beautiful job of examining how prominent ethicists have framed nature - and thus how they tell the stories of nature (and describe our ethical responsibilities to nature). She finds many of the traditional approaches unsatisfactory and suggests a different approach, one of holistic ecofeminist philosophy that resonates with me:

"It is an invitation to dissolve the dualistic thinking that separates reason from emotion, the conscious from the unconscious, the 'domestic' from the 'wild,' and animal advocacy from nature ethics. It welcomes larger scientific stories of evolutionary and ecological processes*, but never loses sight of the individual beings who exist within these larger narratives. Ecofeminist philosophy never transcends or denies our capacity for empathy and care, our most important human connection with the natural world."

*I'd add ethological and perhaps even ethnographic here, too.

A timely and important examination of nature ethics that is sure to spark important thought and reflection. Highly recommended.