I don’t know if such a thing exists, but I would like to read a book about the philosophy behind why we should save the environment from the effects of climate change. I agree that we should, but I want to better understand the philosophical argument behind it.
Aside from the fact that if the environment were to collapse humanity would likely go extinct from lack of food, what reason do we have to preserve the current order of the environment, or the environment as it was before humans began changing the environment? Wouldn’t that mean we should resurrect wooly mammoths and other species that were key to the environments success before humans may have hunted them to extinction?
Where do we draw the line and what right do we have to make that decision? Is our idea of a pristine wilderness some arbitrary aesthetic? What makes that point in time any better than any time that came before or after it?
These are just some things I’ve been wondering about and wanted to see if there was any philosophical writing around these ideas.
by calamityseye