ABSTRACT
We see a strong conflict between – on one side – the realization of human potentials to shape the world according to our wishes, to seek pleasure, to increase personal and national power and property, and on the other side the laws of ecology that prohibit endless growth, the ongoing loss of ecosystem functions that are the foundation for human quality of life, and the loss of diversity in nature, which is not only an economically important resource but also a source of joy, inspiration and tranquillity. It has been claimed that ‘elements of nature or natural systems have a value only when man attributes it to them, they do not have a value in se’ (Negri 2005: 19, cf. 3–25). If this is so, we have to discuss the anthropocentric valuation of nature.
