Center for Environmental Philosophy

The Center for Environmental Philosophy was established in 1989 as an organization dedicated to furthering research, publication, and education in the area of environmental philosophy and ethics. Based at the University of North Texas since 1990, the primary activities of the center are the publication of the journal Environmental Ethics, the reprinting of significant books on environmental ethics under its own imprint, the sponsorship of various workshops and conferences dedicated to the furthering of research and training in environmental ethics, and the promotion of graduate education, postdoctoral research, and professional development in the field of environmental ethics.

The Center is best known for its journal, which virtually established the field of environmental ethics and remains perhaps the leading forum for serious philosophical work in environmental philosophy. Inspired in part by Aldo Leopold's contention in "A Sand County Almanac" that the roots of most ecological problems were philosophical, Eugene C. Hargrove founded Environmental Ethics in 1978. The journal was originally concerned primarily with whether the attribution of rights to animals and to nature itself could be coherently defended as a philosophical doctrine. While remaining true to its central preoccupation with ethics, the journal's interests have more recently broadened to include significant essays on such topics as deep ecology , ecofeminism , social ecology , economics, and public policy. Under Hargrove's editorial leadership, the journal has brought environmental ethics to increasing acceptance as a serious field by mainstream academic philosophers. Environmental Ethics also is now widely read by researchers concerned with the environment in the fields of biological science, economics, and policy science. It also is developing a small but growing following among environmental professionals such as conservation biologists.

The Center also helps to sponsor, in conjunction with the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of North Texas, programs in which graduate students may take courses and specialize in the field of environmental ethics.

[Lawrence J. Biskowski ]

RESOURCES

ORGANIZATIONS

Center for Environmental Philosophy, University of North Texas, 370 EESAT, P.O. Box 310980, Denton, TX USA 76203-0980 (940) 565-2727, Fax: (940) 565-4439, Email: cep@unt.edu, <http://www.cep.unt.edu>