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Joshua Duclos presents a provocative challenge to all sides in the philosophical debate over the meaning and ethics of wilderness preservation. Firmly rooted in the fifty-year history of academic environmental ethics, his argument is based on the idea that a concern for the welfare of non-human natural beings is a reason to oppose the preservation of wilderness and a reason for beneficent human interference into natural systems. Accordingly, a defense of wilderness in and of itself will require a different kind of argument, perhaps one based on spiritual values. This book will interest students and teachers of environmental ethics and environmental policy, who will find much to consider, question, and debate.

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Eric Katz, professor emeritus, New Jersey Institute of Technology

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Does the prevalence of wild animal suffering undermine the value of wilderness? In asking this question, Wilderness, Morality and Value stages an important intervention into current environmental ethics, bringing together two independently contested issues: the value of wilderness, and how we should respond to the suffering of wild animals. Duclos argues –controversially and thought-provokingly– that concern for wild animal welfare gives us a moral reason to oppose wilderness preservation. Whether you agree with his argument or not, this book is well worth reading; it makes an insightful and original contribution to ongoing ethical debates about the idea of wilderness and why we should value it.

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Clare Palmer, Texas A&M University