“Darwinian Humanism: A Proposal for Environmental Philosophy”

Kirkman, Robert | from Multimedia Library Collection:
Environmental Values (journal)

Kirkman, Robert. “Darwinian Humanism: A Proposal for Environmental Philosophy.” Environmental Values 16, no. 1 (2007): 3–21. doi:10.3197/096327107780160292.

There are two distinct strands within modern philosophical ethics that are relevant to environmental philosophy: an empiricist strand that seeks a naturalist account of human conduct and a humanist strand rooted in a conception of transcendent human freedom. Each strand has its appeal, but each also raises both strategic and theoretical problems for environmental philosophers. Based on a reading of Kant’s critical solution to the antinomy of freedom and nature, I recommend that environmental philosophers consider the possibility of a Darwinian humanism, through which moral agents are understood as both free and causally intertwined with the natural world.
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