The Economy of the Earth

Mark Sagoff draws on the last twenty years of debate over the foundations of environmentalism in this comprehensive revision of The Economy of the Earth. Posing questions pertinent to consumption, cost-benefit analysis, the normative implications of neo-Darwinism, the role of the natural in national history, and the centrality of the concept of place in environmental ethics, he analyses social policy in relation to the environment, pollution, the workplace, and public safely and health. Sagoff distinguishes ethical from economic questions and explains which kinds of concepts, arguments, and processes are appropriate to each. He offers a critique \'preference\' and \'willingness to pay\' as measures of value in environmental economics and defends political, cultural, aesthetic, and ethical reasons to protect the natural environment.

• A complete, thorough, and comprehensive revision of the 1st Edition • The best critique available of \'preference\' and \'willingness to pay\' as norms or criteria for environmental valuation • Provocative, constructive, and original analysis of debates over consumption, the role of science, and the concept of place in environmental ethics and policy

1. Introduction; 2. At the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima; or, why political questions are not all economic; 3. The allocation and distribution of resources; 4. Values and preferences; 5. Can we put a price on nature’s services?; 6. Do we consume too much?; 7. Is an environmental ethic compatible with biological science?; 8. Settling America or the concept of place in environmental ethics; 9. Natural and national history; 10. Environmentalism: death and resurrection.