ABSTRACT
Taylor’s book, Respect for Nature: A Theory of Environmental Ethics, elaborates a theory that has three components. There is, first, a belief system, the biocentric outlook on nature, acceptance of which involves awareness of ourselves as biological entities. This belief system supports, secondly, the basic moral attitude of respect for nature. Then, thirdly, the attitude entails the adoption of certain rules of conduct. The first extract in the Reading * summarizes the main elements of the belief system and indicates the way in which it supports the moral attitude of respect. The second, longer extract explains two concepts that have to be understood in order to grasp what the attitude of respect for nature is: the concept of the good of a being and the concept of inherent worth.
