Nature and Property: A Riparian Law Perspective

摘要

The law of accretion is a valuable area of law for analysis in the realm of environmental ethics. It illustrates the many possible readings of one law, and the importance of incentive effects on the analysis of a law's implicit environmental content. Perhaps the most obvious conclusion to be drawn from this analysis is that it is quite difficult to construe accretion in a way that is potentially biocentric. Perhaps the analysis presented here begs the question of why one should bother comparing laws against a biocentric ethic, when they are so unabashedly utilitarian and anthropocentric in their content? Is there any law that presents a truly biocentric ethic? This question could prove challenging in future research. Perhaps such a question is the right end to a study like this one; understanding that the law is predominantly anthropocentric, if that is true, is a valuable lesson. Indeed, nor is such an understanding a final conclusion; the many varieties of utilitarianism should be addressed and understood more thoroughly. The law of accretion stands as a good example of the many levels of anthropocentrism; accretion can be said to be a law that is purely utilitarian on an economic level, but it also has elements that can be seen as protecting recreational and aesthetic values as well.