The Ethics of Climate Change: Right and Wrong in a Warming World

Description

"Open this book and James Garvey is right there making real sense to you... in a necessary conversation, capturing you to the very end."-Ted Honderich, Grote Professor Emeritus of The Philosophy of Mind & Logic, University College London, UK. James Garvey argues that the ultimate rationale for action on climate change cannot be simply economic, political, scientific or social, though our decisions should be informed by such things. Instead, climate change is largely a moral problem. What we should do about it depends on what matters to us and what we think is right. This book is an introduction to the ethics of climate change. It considers a little climate science and a lot of moral philosophy, ultimately finding a way into the many possible positions associated with climate change. It is also a call for action, for doing something about the moral demands placed on both governments and individuals by the fact of climate change. This is a book about choices, responsibility, and where the moral weight falls on our warming world.

James Garvey is Secretary of the Royal Institute of Philosophy, UK. He is the author of The Twenty Greatest Philosophy Books and The Ethics of Climate Change, also published by Continuum.

"James Garvey is right there making real sense to you. A new philosopher doing logic in the world. In a necessary conversation, capturing you to the very end." - Ted Honderich, Grote Professor Emeritus of the Philosophy of Mind & Logic, University College London, UK. "Written in plain English, Garvey's excellent book makes accessible to the reader the ethical issues surrounding global warming, and the literature too. It should figure on all relevant reading lists." - Robin Attfield, Professor of Philosophy, Cardiff University, UK "The Ethics of Climate Change is a model of philosophical reasoning about one of the greatest moral challenges any generation has ever faced. If you don't yet know why you should be morally outraged about the present situation, read this book. Calmly, carefully, with well-marshalled facts and sound argument, Garvey shows us just how badly the nations of the industrialized world - and the citizens of those nations - are behaving. He also tells us what we need to do about it." - Peter Singer, Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics, University Center for Human Values, Princeton University and Laureate Professor, University of Melbourne, Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics. 'This book offers an excellent and "capturing" (Honderich) introduction to the ethics of climate change.' - Ethical Perspectives "Essential reading for anyone interested in the urgent moral questions raised by our climate crisis." - Mark Lynas, Author of Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet "It's an excellent book to think with: Garvey has a delicious style, often very funny, and a trick of ushering the reader right inside his thought experiments." - Stephen Poole, The Guardian "[With this book] you don't get the feeling of being hectored by a preachy green, but rather of being addressed like the intelligent adult that you are...Witty without being frivolous, explanatory but never condescending, engaging and challenging in equal measure, this book should become a campus classic." - Jonathan Webber, The Philosophers' Magazine "In this outstanding book, Garvey (Royal Institute of Philosophy, UK) takes a position on global warming that is fair-minded and supported by compelling reasons. In the first chapter he argues that global warming is occurring, that human activities have contributed significantly to this process, that it will have detrimental effects on people, and that the evidence for all this is largely beyond question within the scientific community. The remainder of the book makes a case for the claim that both individuals and nations, particularly economically privileged ones, have a moral obligation to ameliorate this situation. Garvey offers an excellent discussion of general moral issues such as responsibility, justice, and choice and their relation to global warming. He also presents a forceful rebuttal of the views that ethics is irrelevant and "merely" subjective. The concluding chapters propose concrete practices and policies that are morally required in response to global warming. Garvey's arguments are clear and unencumbered with jargon...this book will be extremely helpful to anyone who wants a lively introduction to this topic. Summing Up: Highly Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers; general readers." -M.A. Michael, CHOICE, November 2008 "Garvey's book explores the philosophical implications of, and for, this issue." Mentioned in Times Higher Educational Supplement, 24 January 2008 'When I canvassed my carbon-management masters students on their favourite climate change books ... plaudits came in for ... James Garvey's Ethics of Climate Change ... [one of a few] recently published, well-written books that increase understanding and provoke debate' - Nature