Geographical, religious, and philosophical thought: Following the high road and finding common ground in environmental ethics

摘要

This thesis responds to several voids perceived in geographical literature by examining different themes in environmental ethics. The voids identified by geographers in recent publications are: (1) the absence of environmental issues in geographical works on post-modernism, (2) the need for geographers to engage explicitly in ethical analysis of environmental and sustainable development issues, and (3) the lack of spiritually informed geographical literature. The thesis traces the development of environmental thought in the West, highlighting the contributions made by geographers. An organizational framework is offered in conjunction with an analysis of several philosophical and spiritual approaches to environmental issues. The analysis of these approaches yields several common, potentially unifying principles upon which a global sustainable environmental ethic might be based. The thesis proposes "unity in diversity" as a conceptual framework for such an ethic.