Bibliography: leaves 99-102. Identifies aesthetic knowledge as a fundamentally linked perceptual and ontological process. Aesthetic processes are identified as criteria relevant for locating and advocating ethics in 'eco-culturally sustainable development'. Cultural actions are ethical evaluations about valuing nature.

Biodiversity is a concept that plays a key role in both scientific theories such as the species-area law and conservation politics. Currently, however, little agreement exists on how biodiversity should be defined, let alone measured. This has led to suggestions that biodiversity is not a metaphysically robust concept, with major implications for its usefulness in formulating scientific theories and making conservation decisions. A general discussion of biodiversity is presented, highlighting its application both in scientific and conservation contexts, its relationship with environmental ethics, and existing approaches to its measurement. To overcome the limitations of existing biodiversity concepts, a new concept of biocomplexity is proposed. This concept equates the biodiversity of any biological system with its effective complexity. Biocomplexity is shown to be the only feasible measure of biodiversity that captures the essential features desired of a general biodiversity concept. In particular, it is a well-defined, measurable and strongly intrinsic property of any biological system. Finally, the practical application of biocomplexity is discussed.

This thesis examines the intersection between religion and environmental ethics in Jainism. Religious traditions, as they confront the challenges of modernity, are redefining their traditional mores and narratives in ways that appear, and are, contemporary and relevant. One of the most striking ways in which Jains are accomplishing this, is through their self-presentation as inherently “ecological” through their use of “Western” animal rights discourse in tandem with traditional Jain doctrine. This essay seeks to explore the ways in which this is accomplished, and how these new understandings are being established and understood by members of this “living” community.

This thesis examines the intersection between religion and environmental ethics in Jainism. Religious traditions, as they confront the challenges of modernity, are redefining their traditional mores and narratives in ways that appear, and are, contemporary and relevant. One of the most striking ways in which Jains are accomplishing this, is through their self-presentation as inherently “ecological” through their use of “Western” animal rights discourse in tandem with traditional Jain doctrine. This essay seeks to explore the ways in which this is accomplished, and how these new understandings are being established and understood by members of this “living” community.

This study first proposes a conceptual structure from Ajzen's planned behavior theory; next conducts paper review, then does practice study of waste disposal treatment; finally uses three dimensional factors and six sub-dimensional factors to examine their relationship and interaction with tendency attitude of environmental behavior. The three dimensional factors are tendency attitude, subjective norms and behavioral control perception of environmental behavior, and six sub-dimensional factors are moral perception development, environmental ethic concept, internal and exterior stakeholders' influences, self-efficacy, and instrumental ethical climate. This study conducts the empirical research by questionnaire survey and statistic analysis. The results are as follows: 1. There is significant correlation between moral perception development and business managers' decision intention on environmental ethics. 2. There is no significant correlation between environmental ethic concept and business managers' decision intention on environmental ethics. 3. There is significant correlation between internal stakeholders' influences and business managers' decision intention on environmental ethics. 4. There is significant correlation between exterior stakeholders' influences and business managers' decision intention on environmental ethics. 5. There is significant correlation between self-efficacy and business managers' decision intention on environmental ethics. 6. There is significant correlation between instrumental ethical climate and business managers' decision intention on environmental ethics. 7. There is no significant difference on demographic variables for business managers' decision intention on environmental ethics. 8. There is significant difference on some demographic variables for each dimension that influences business managers' decision intention on environmental ethics. 9. There is significant difference on some dimensions that influence business managers' decision intention on environmental ethics for different business manager groups of environmental ethic decision intention.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2001. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 225-231). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

This thesis aims at bringing about a greater awareness of the interpretive nature of forestry sciences by examining the ethics and values underlying the “Emulation of Natural Disturbance” (END) forest management approach in Canada. The thesis contains four main manuscripts. The first manuscript reports on a mental models analysis of the meaning of the END for academic forestry scientists across Canada. The results of this study indicate inconsistencies and contradictions between scientists’ mental model of the END, which puts into question the utility and appropriateness of the END for forestry policy. The second manuscript discusses the ethics underlying the END and critiques its policy implications from a pragmatic perspective. In the third manuscript the ethics and values underlying the END are put in relation with Holmes Rolston III’s ethics of “Following Nature”. The last manuscript reports on a survey of forestry curricula across North America conducted to ascertain the level of formal training in ethics afforded to professional foresters and natural resource managers. This manuscript contains a proposed course syllabus in forestry ethics. The curricula study complements the other manuscripts in that it is meant as another means by which to promote interdisciplinary dialogue among forestry scientists, environmental ethicists, and social scientists. In this thesis, in addition to trying to illustrate how ethics shape our interpretations of forests, a pragmatic approach is used to dissolve the fact/values and Nature/Culture dichotomies in forestry sciences and to argue for a more democratic approach to forestry policy.

In order to work toward right relationships among humanity and all other things, what is required is an ethical theory that concerns itself with interests that include but are not limited to the human. James M. Gustafson's theocentric ethics, which centres value on God, can accomplish this in the religious sphere. Gustafson's ethical theory also has the potential to work within nontheistic secularism as a way of construing all things as interrelated and interdependent. Underlying Gustafson's theology and value theory is a commonsense ontology, which appreciates evidences from the sciences, affective orientation, and resembles certain webs of beliefs held by many outside religious communities. In order to illustrate the transition to secular Gustafsonian ethical theory, functional surrogates of theology found in secular philosophy, and particularly in the work of Mary Midgley, are identified. Gustafson's ethical theory is used to identify certain obligations and restrictions with regard to environmental ethics.

This paper focuses on the possible input of African Ethics into the global warming and climate change discourse in light of the economic dilemma of sustainability. The paper argues that African Ethics through its concept of Ubuntu can make a worthy contribution to the issues surrounding sustainable development, ecological debt and international climate change talks. In a world where the lives of the affluent nations impact drastically on our climate and necessitate calamitous climate disasters and cause the poor to suffer, why is it that the international community has not reached any noteworthy climate change solutions? The same poor countries are also burdened by payment of huge debts and poor climate change adaptation and development. Can African ethics make some contribution to these challenging issues brought by global warming and climate change? The dissertation seeks to tackle these questions by employing a qualitative methodology informed by Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics and using the research design of Boff’s ecological holism and Murove’s relational paradigm. However, in order for African ethics to make such a viable contribution the paper seeks to reveal the philosophical and economic substrata sustaining the incessant degradation of the ecology. This opens us the entry point for African ethics through Ubuntu to engage with other voices in the search for solutions to the global warming and climate change crises. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

This thesis examines the intersection between religion and environmental ethics in Jainism. Religious traditions, as they confront the challenges of modernity, are redefining their traditional mores and narratives in ways that appear, and are, contemporary and relevant. One of the most striking ways in which Jains are accomplishing this, is through their self-presentation as inherently “ecological” through their use of “Western” animal rights discourse in tandem with traditional Jain doctrine. This essay seeks to explore the ways in which this is accomplished, and how these new understandings are being established and understood by members of this “living” community.