ABSTRACT
This chapter considers a number of worries these sceptical commentators variously raise. Rolled together, these worries amount to the composite charge that the dominant outlook of Buddhism is too 'speciesist' or 'chauvinist', too 'pro-civilization', too 'individualistic', and too little concerned with deciding on 'hard cases', to justify ascribing to it an environmental ethic. The chapter argues that it is only on certain questionable conceptions of environmental ethics that the worries are damaging to Buddhism's environmental credentials. It shows that the Buddhist approach is laudably innocent of such questionable, albeit fashionable, conceptions and dogmas. This chapter also presents some closing thoughts on the concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The revival of an ancient style of moral philosophy nowadays referred to as virtue ethics, and a growing literature in which Buddhism is spoken of as an 'environmentally friendly' dispensation are two recent developments.
