ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a conception of an environmental ethic which involves postulating that nonconscious natural objects can have value in their own right, independently of human interests. It considers two kinds of objection: those that deny the possibility of developing an ethic of the environment that accepts this postulate, and those that deny the necessity of constructing such an ethic. Both types of objection are found wanting. The chapter deals with some tentative remarks regarding the notion of inherent value. There are difficulties of comparison, perhaps themselves great enough to foreclose the possibility of developing a consequentialist environmental ethic. An environmental ethic must recognize that the class of beings having moral standing is larger than the class of conscious beings.
