Abstract
This chapter explores reasons to doubt the defensibility of the “weak theory of sustainability” that informs and justifies the use of cost-benefit analysis by environmental regulators. As the argument reveals, inasmuch as the weak theory equates what is sustainable with what sustains the satisfaction of human preferences, it has the surprising philosophical wherewithal to make climate-changing activities sustainable, at least in principle. This would be so if human ingenuity made possible the replacement of ecosystem services with technological alternatives. And it would be particularly so if the aesthetic goods that derive from nature – goods which are resistant to quantification – are excluded from environmental cost-benefit analyses. But it is also true if those aesthetic goods are reduced to mere human preferences that can be measured through indirect market-based means, for aesthetic preferences are remarkably adaptive.
Inasmuch as people can be expected to come to appreciate landscapes degraded by climate change, those who defend a weak theory of sustainability can expect that climate change will not long be at odds with what people find aesthetically pleasing. However, as the growing literature on “nature-deficit disorder” suggests, while aesthetic preferences may be elastic, aesthetic needs are not. As climate change progressively strips us of nature’s goods, we will lose the ability to meet crucial aesthetic needs. The irony is clear: As our aesthetic preferences bend towards the acceptance of ecological loss, we will predictably lose our preferences for meeting our own enduring aesthetic needs. We can thus expect climate change to cause us to prefer what we do not need and to need what we do not prefer. And this implies that climate change is the reductio ad absurdum of the weak theory of sustainability that dominates contemporary environmental regulation.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adler, M. D. (2011). Well-being and fair distribution: Beyond cost-benefit analysis. Oxford University Press.
Adler, M. D. (2019). Measuring social welfare: An introduction. Oxford University Press.
Beckerman, W. (1994). Sustainable development: Is it a useful concept? Environmental Values, 3(3), 191–209.
Benfield, J. A., Rainbolt, G. N., Bell, P. A., & Donovan, G. H. (2015). Classrooms with nature views: Evidence of differing student perceptions and behaviors. Environment and Behavior, 47(2), 140–157. Retrieved from. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916513499583
Bentham, J. (1830). The rationale of reward (1st ed.). Robert Heward.
Chawla, L. (2015). Benefits of nature contact for children. Journal of Planning Literature, 30(4), 433–452.
Children & Nature Network. Research library. Retrieved from https://research.childrenandnature.org/.
Daly, H. (1991). Steady-state economics (2nd ed.). Island Press.
Dobson, A. (1996, 5). Environmental sustainabilities: An analysis and a typology. Environmental Politics, 401–428.
Exec. Order No. 12,291, 46 Fed. Reg. 13,193. (1981, February 17).
Exec. Order No. 12,866, 58 Fed. Reg. 51,735 (1993, September 30).
Föllmer, J., Kistemann, T., & Anthonj, C. (2021, Wellbeing, Space and Society). Academic greenspace and well-being – can campus landscape be therapeutic? Evidence from a German university, 2, Article e100003. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wss.2020.100003
Gobster, P. (1999). An ecological aesthetic for forest landscape management. Landscape Journal, 18(1), 54–64.
Greenberg, J. (2014). A feathered river across the sky: The passenger pigeon’s flight to extinction. Bloomsbury.
Haft, S., Witt, P. J., and Thomas, T. (Producers) & Weir, P. (Director). (1989). The Dead Poets Society. Touchstone Pictures and Silver Screen Partners IV.
Hawkin, P., Lovins, A., & Lovins, L. H. (2000). Natural Capitalism. Little, Brown and.
Helm, D. (2016). Natural capital: Valuing the planet. Yale University Press.
Holton, R., & Berridge, K. (2013). Addiction: Between compulsion and choice. In N. Levy (Ed.), Addiction and self-control. Oxford University Press.
Hurd, H. M. (2012). Fouling Our Nest: Are (Environmental) Ethics Impotent Against (Bad) Economics? In R. Ames & P. Hershock (Eds.), East-West Philosophy. East-West Center Press.
Hurd, H. M. (n.d.). The perverse incompatibility of environmental sustainability and environmental ethics. Unpublished manuscript available from author.
Kareiva, P., et al. (Eds.). (2011). Natural Capital: Theory and Practice of Mapping Ecosystem Services. Oxford University Press.
Krieger, M. (1973). What’s Wrong with Plastic Trees? Science, 179, 446–455.
Kuo, M., Klein, S. E., Browning, M. H. E. M., & Zaplatosch, J. (2021). Greening for academic achievement: Prioritizing what to plant and where. Landscape and Urban Planning, 206, Article e103962.Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2020.103962.
Kweon, B.-S., Ellis, C. D., Lee, J., & Jacobs, K. (2017). The link between school environments and student academic performance. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 23, 35–43. Retrieved from. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2017.02.002
Lambert, J., & Hurd, H. (2021). Will the Biden administration continue to protect the environment only when it is profitable to do so? U. Ill. L. Rev, 2021, 101–112. Online: Biden 100 Days 101–12 (April 30, 2021).
Largo-Wight, E., Chen, W. W., Dodd, V., & Weiler, R. (2011). Healthy workplaces: The effects of nature contact at work on employee stress and health. Public Health Report, 126(Suppl 1), 124–130. Retrieved from 10.1177/00333549111260S116.
Leung, W. T. V., Tam, T. Y. T., Pan, W.-C., Wu, C.-D., Lung, S.-C. C., & Spengler, J. D. (2019). How is environmental greenness related to student’ academic performance in English and mathematics? Landscape & Urban Planning, 181, 118–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.09.021
Lin, M., & Van Stan II, J. T. (2020). Impacts of urban landscapes on students’ academic performance. Landscape and Urban Planning, 201, Article e103840. Retrieved from Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2020.103840.
Louv, R. (2005). The last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. Algonquin Books.
Marx, K. (1996). Das Kapital (F. Engels, Ed.). Regnery Publishing.
Mason, L., Ronconi, A., Scrimin, S., & Pazzaglia, F. (2021). Short-term exposure to nature and benefits for students’ cognitive performance. Educational Psychology Review, 34, 609–647. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09631-8.
Matsuoka, R. H. (2010). Student performance and high school landscapes: Examining the links. Landscape and Urban Planning, 97, 273–282. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2010.06.011.
Mill, J. S. (1863). Utilitarianism. Parker, Son & Bourn.
Moore, M. (2020). Mechanical choices: The responsibility of the human machine. Oxford University Press.
Moore, G. K. J. (2022). Carrying the torch: Evaluating the role of visual art in communicating scientific lessons from ecology. University of Michigan Master’s Thesis.
Moore, G. K. J., & Hurd, H. M. (n.d.). Admiring nature: Aligning aesthetics, ecology, and ethics. Unpublished manuscript available from authors.
Ribe, R. (2002). Is scenic beauty a proxy for acceptable management?: The influence of environmental attitudes on landscape perceptions. Environment and Behavior, 34(6), 757–780.
Shore, D. (1997). The Chicago wilderness and its critics: Controversy erupts over restoration in Chicago area. Restoration and Management Notes, 15(1), 25–31.
Singer, P. (2009). Animal liberation (Updated ed.). Harper Perennial.
Snell, T. L., Simmonds, J. G., & Klein, L. M. (2020). Exploring the impact of contact with nature in childhood on adult personality. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 55, 1–9. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2020.126864.
Solow, R. (1992). An almost practical step toward sustainability. Routledge.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Moore, G.K.J., Hurd, H.M. (2023). Climate Change, Natural Aesthetics, and the Danger of Adapted Preferences. In: Pellegrino, G., Di Paola, M. (eds) Handbook of the Philosophy of Climate Change. Handbooks in Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07002-0_104
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07002-0_104
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-07001-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-07002-0
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities