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Professor Simon James' Outputs (31)

Phenomenology and the Problem of Animal Minds (2009)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2009). Phenomenology and the Problem of Animal Minds. Environmental Values, 18(1), 33-49. https://doi.org/10.3197/096327109x404735

Attempts to determine whether nonhuman animals have minds are often thought to raise a particular sceptical concern; I call it the problem of animal minds. If there are such things as animal minds, the sceptic reasons, they will be private realms to... Read More about Phenomenology and the Problem of Animal Minds.

Merleau-Ponty, Metaphysical Realism and the Natural World (2007)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2007). Merleau-Ponty, Metaphysical Realism and the Natural World. International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 15(4), 501-519. https://doi.org/10.1080/09672550701654917

Environmental thinkers often suppose that the natural world (or some parts of it, at least) exists in its own right, independent of human concerns. The arguments developed in this paper suggest that it is possible to do justice to this thought withou... Read More about Merleau-Ponty, Metaphysical Realism and the Natural World.

Human Virtues and Natural Values (2006)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2006). Human Virtues and Natural Values. Environmental Ethics, 28(4), 339-354

In several works, Holmes Rolston III has argued that a satisfactory environmental ethic cannot be built on a virtue ethical foundation. His first argument amounts to the charge that because virtue ethics is by nature 'self-centred' or egoistic it is... Read More about Human Virtues and Natural Values.

‘Buddhism and the Ethics of Species Conservation’ (2006)
Journal Article
James Simon, P. (2006). ‘Buddhism and the Ethics of Species Conservation’. Environmental Values, 15(1), 85-97. https://doi.org/10.3197/096327106776678942

Efforts to conserve endangered species of animal are, in some important respects, at odds with Buddhist ethics. On the one hand, being abstract entities, species cannot suffer, and so cannot be proper objects of compassion or similar moral virtues. O... Read More about ‘Buddhism and the Ethics of Species Conservation’.

Zen Buddhism and the Intrinsic Value of Nature (2003)
Journal Article
James, S. P. (2003). Zen Buddhism and the Intrinsic Value of Nature. Contemporary Buddhism, 4(2), 143-157. https://doi.org/10.1080/1463994032000162965

Part I It is a perennial theme in the literature on environmental ethics that the exploitation of the environment is the result of a blindness to (or perhaps a refusal to recognize) the intrinsic value of natural beings. The general story here is tha... Read More about Zen Buddhism and the Intrinsic Value of Nature.