ABSTRACT
The moral significance of preserving natural environments is not entirely an issue of rights and social utility, for a person’s attitude toward nature may be importantly connected with virtues or human excellences. As human beings we are part of nature, living, growing, declining, and dying by natural laws similar to those governing other living beings; despite our awesomely distinctive human powers, we share many of the needs, limits, and liabilities of animals and plants. Although the environmentalist may concede the critic’s logical point, he may well argue that, as a matter of fact, increased understanding of nature tends to heighten people’s concern for its preservation. If someone challenges the empirical assumption, the environmentalist might develop the argument along a quite different line. The anti-environmentalist, however, may refuse to accept the charge that he lacks aesthetic sensibility.
