ABSTRACT
The success of the North American Wildlife Conservation Model is attributed to hunting which was regulated to conserve game animal populations and has resulted in healthier herds than what existed a century ago. Hunting illustrates, therefore, many of the theoretical debates that characterized the first 30 years of environmental ethics as an academic discipline. This chapter discusses by charting a path through the moral and socio-political issues raised by hunting. It discusses hunting in light of ethical theory, first with respect to sustainable anthropocentrism, second with respect to animal protectionism, and third with respect to ecological nonanthropocentrism. The chapter explores how the ethical issues are informed to a large extent by broader philosophical issues concerning the role of humanity within nature, landscape hermeneutics, the philosophies of sport, technology and biology, and the historical-cultural context of contemporary hunting.
