The land ethic at the turn of the millennium

Abstract

Aldo Leopold's land ethic has proved more complex and subtle than he envisioned. Nevertheless Leopold launched what, facing a new millennium, has proved urgent on the global agenda: an environmental ethics concerned in theory and practice about appropriate respect for values carried by the natural world and human responsibilities for the sustaining of these values. A blending of anthropocentric and biocentric values continues to be vital. These duties toward nature involve analysis of ecosystem integrity and evolutionary dynamism at both scientific and philosophical levels; any responsible environmental policy must be based on plausible accounts of ecosystems and a sustainable biosphere. Humans and this planet have entwined destinies. We now envision an Earth ethic beyond the land ethic.