ABSTRACT
According to T. M. Scanlon, ‘it would seem callous and somehow objectionable to cut down a great old tree just for the fun of trying out my new chain saw’ (What We Owe to Each Other, p. 68). Scanlon does not linger on the basis of this claim, though. The chapter’s main aim is to give a treatment of the main axiological issues that ethics of plants should take on. Is the value of plants independent of, or continuous with, the value of ecosystems? Is it dependent on human or sentient beings attitudes, or is it intrinsic? Is it constitutive? Is it final or instrumental? After consideration of these various alternatives, a specific claim will be defended, to the effect that the value of plants is a form of constitutive, not intrinsic, but final, value.
