Professor Simon James' Outputs (31)

Rarity and Endangerment: Why Do They Matter? (2023)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2024). Rarity and Endangerment: Why Do They Matter?. Environmental Values, 33(3), 296–310. https://doi.org/10.1177/09632719231171836

It is often supposed that valuable organisms are more valuable if they are rare. Likewise if they belong to endangered species. I consider what kinds of value rarity and endangerment can add in such cases. I argue that individual organisms of a valua... Read More about Rarity and Endangerment: Why Do They Matter?.

Against Relational Value (2022)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2022). Against Relational Value. The Harvard Review of Philosophy, 29, 45-54. https://doi.org/10.5840/harvardreview20228645

In some environmental circles, talk of relational values is very much in fashion. It is said that we must think in terms of such values if we are to understand how such things as canyons, mangroves, and coral reefs matter to people. But that is bad a... Read More about Against Relational Value.

Climate Justice: Some Challenges for Buddhist Ethics (2020)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2020). Climate Justice: Some Challenges for Buddhist Ethics. Journal of Buddhist ethics, 27,

It has often been suggested that the Buddhist teachings can help us to meet the moral challenges posed by the climate crisis. This paper, by contrast, addresses some challenges the topic of climate justice presents for Buddhist ethics. Two arguments... Read More about Climate Justice: Some Challenges for Buddhist Ethics.

Legal Rights and Nature's Contributions to People: Is There a Connection? (2020)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2020). Legal Rights and Nature's Contributions to People: Is There a Connection?. Biological Conservation, 241, Article 108325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108325

It has been claimed that approaches to conservation framed in terms of nature’s contributions to people are congenial to ones framed in terms of rights. This paper provides what has so far been lacking – namely, an argument in support of this claim.... Read More about Legal Rights and Nature's Contributions to People: Is There a Connection?.

Suffering and the Primacy of Virtue (2019)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2019). Suffering and the Primacy of Virtue. Analysis, 79(4), 605-613. https://doi.org/10.1093/analys/anz049

Some people claim that some instances of suffering are intrinsically bad in an impersonal way. If it were true, that claim might seem to count against virtue ethics and for consequentialism. Drawing on the works of Jason Kawall, Christine Swanton and... Read More about Suffering and the Primacy of Virtue.

Nature's Indifference (2019)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2019). Nature's Indifference. Environmental Ethics, 41(2), 115-128. https://doi.org/10.5840/enviroethics201941212

Contrary to what writers such as Hans Jonas and Val Plumwood suggest, much of nature is indifferent to human interests. Mountains, glaciers, sun-baked salt pans—such entities care neither about what interests us humans nor about what is objectively i... Read More about Nature's Indifference.

Natural Meanings and Cultural Values (2019)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2019). Natural Meanings and Cultural Values. Environmental Ethics, 41(1), 3-16. https://doi.org/10.5840/enviroethics20194112

In many cases, rivers, mountains, forests, and other so-called natural entities have value for us because they contribute to our well-being. According to the standard model of such value, they have instrumental or “service” value for us on account of... Read More about Natural Meanings and Cultural Values.

Madhyamaka, Metaphysical Realism and the Possibility of an Ancestral World (2018)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2018). Madhyamaka, Metaphysical Realism and the Possibility of an Ancestral World. Philosophy East and West, 68(4), 1116-1133. https://doi.org/10.1353/pew.0.0132

It is sometimes argued that metaphysical anti-realists cannot consistently affirm the evident truth that the world existed before any conscious subjects evolved. I consider how Mādhyamikas could respond, and, in so doing, clarify where Madhyamaka may... Read More about Madhyamaka, Metaphysical Realism and the Possibility of an Ancestral World.

Merleau-Ponty and Metaphysical Realism (2018)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2018). Merleau-Ponty and Metaphysical Realism. European Journal of Philosophy, 26(4), 1312-1323. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejop.12386

Global metaphysical antirealism (or “antirealism”) is often thought to entail that the identity of each and every concrete entity in our world ultimately depends on us—on our adoption of certain social and linguistic conventions, for instance, or on... Read More about Merleau-Ponty and Metaphysical Realism.

Letting Nature take its Course (editorial for Environmental Values) (2016)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2016). Letting Nature take its Course (editorial for Environmental Values). Environmental Values, 25(4), i-iv. https://doi.org/10.3197/096327116x14661540759070

The Trouble with Environmental Values (2016)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2016). The Trouble with Environmental Values. Environmental Values, 25(2), 131-144. https://doi.org/10.3197/096327116x14552114338747

If we are to assess whether our attitudes towards nature are morally, aesthetically or in any other way appropriate or inappropriate, then we will need to know what those attitudes are. Drawing on the works of Katie McShane, Alan Holland and Christin... Read More about The Trouble with Environmental Values.

The New Greenspeak (2015)
Journal Article
James, S. (2015). The New Greenspeak. Earth Island journal, 30(1),

Cultural Ecosystem Services: A Critical Assessment (2015)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2015). Cultural Ecosystem Services: A Critical Assessment. Ethics, Policy & Environment, 18(3), 338-350. https://doi.org/10.1080/21550085.2015.1111616

This paper is about the practice of evaluating ecosystems on the basis of the cultural services they provide. My first aim is to assess the various objections that have been made to this practice. My second is to argue that when particular places are... Read More about Cultural Ecosystem Services: A Critical Assessment.

Why Old Things Matter (2015)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2015). Why Old Things Matter. Journal of Moral Philosophy, 12(3), 313-329. https://doi.org/10.1163/17455243-4681038

It is, I suggest, unclear whether any old inanimate objects deserve to be treated with respect simply because they are old. Yet this does not entail that an object’s age has no bearing at all on the question of how it may permissibly be treated. I de... Read More about Why Old Things Matter.

Ecosystem Services and the Value of Places (2015)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2016). Ecosystem Services and the Value of Places. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 19(1), 101-113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-015-9592-6

In the US Environmental Protection Agency, the World Wide Fund for Nature and many other environmental organisations, it is standard practice to evaluate particular woods, wetlands and other such places on the basis of the ‘ecosystem services’ they a... Read More about Ecosystem Services and the Value of Places.

Protecting Nature for the Sake of Human Beings (2015)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2016). Protecting Nature for the Sake of Human Beings. Ratio: An international journal of analytic philosophy, 29(2), 213-227. https://doi.org/10.1111/rati.12091

It is often assumed that to say that nature should be protected for the sake of human beings just is to say that it should be protected because it is a means to one or more anthropocentric ends. I argue that this assumption is false. In some contexts... Read More about Protecting Nature for the Sake of Human Beings.

“Nothing Truly Wild is Unclean”: Muir, Misanthropy, and the Aesthetics of Dirt (2014)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2014). “Nothing Truly Wild is Unclean”: Muir, Misanthropy, and the Aesthetics of Dirt. Environmental Ethics, 36(3), 357-363. https://doi.org/10.5840/enviroethics201436335

For John Muir, nothing truly wild is unclean. Dirtiness is the result of human influence. Muir’s view finds an echo in the works of those writers, such as Robinson Jeffers, who regard urban environments as wild places that have, over time, become inc... Read More about “Nothing Truly Wild is Unclean”: Muir, Misanthropy, and the Aesthetics of Dirt.

Cherished Places and Ecosystem Services (2013)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2013). Cherished Places and Ecosystem Services. Ethics, Policy & Environment, 16(3), 264-266. https://doi.org/10.1080/21550085.2013.843370

Finding - and Failing to Find - Meaning in Nature (2013)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2013). Finding - and Failing to Find - Meaning in Nature. Environmental Values, 22(5), 609-625. https://doi.org/10.3197/096327113x13745164553833

This paper is about how we should evaluate our tendencies to find - or fail to find - different meanings in the natural world. It has three aims: (1) to show that some virtues and vices can be exhibited in our tendencies to find or to overlook the me... Read More about Finding - and Failing to Find - Meaning in Nature.

Philistinism and the Preservation of Nature (2013)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2013). Philistinism and the Preservation of Nature. Philosophy, 88(1), 101-114. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0031819112000575

It is clear that natural entities can be preserved – they can be preserved because they can be harmed or destroyed, or in various other ways adversely affected. I argue that in light of the rise of scientism and other forms of philistinism, the polit... Read More about Philistinism and the Preservation of Nature.