How Nature Matters
Simon P. James
Abstract
Abstract How Nature Matters presents an original theory of nature’s value based on part–whole relations. In so doing, it solves the difficult problem of how we should conceptualize nature’s cultural values. The standard practice of framing them in terms of the provision of cultural ecosystem services is shown to be inadequate. When natural things have cultural value, they typically do not have it as service providers—that is, as means to valuable ends. They have it as parts of valuable and meaningful wholes—as parts of traditions, narratives, and cultural identities. These conclusions are developed and defended through twelve case studies, concerning, amongst other things, the contentious practice of dugong hunting and the religious significance of the site where the Buddha is said to have become enlightened. The author also analyses some cutting-edge policy-related topics, such as the debate surrounding the concept of relational value, and takes a stand on various foundational issues in environmental philosophy, including the question of whether anything on earth qualifies as natural.