Nature's Edge

Charles S. Brown is Professor of Philosophy at Emporia State University. Ted Toadvine is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Environmental Studies at the University of Oregon. Brown and Toadvine are the coeditors of Eco-Phenomenology: Back to the Earth Itself, also published by SUNY Press.

"A total of thirteen chapters, written by scholars and practitioners with vastly varying backgrounds, prefaced by a comprehensive and compelling introduction by Brown, the text as a whole amounts to a broad and deep meditation on borderlines in nature, society, and thought itself." — Environmental Ethics"The writing … offers relevant insight into the complications involved in either including or separating humans from Nature … successfully bridges the gap between disciplines while addressing contemporary concerns." — The Kelvingrove Review"The ideas focused on in this book have received attention at the edges of many fields, but little sustained, multidisciplinary treatment as a field of its own. Because of the variety of disciplines represented here, you may be attracted to one topic, but find yourself delighted to remain for the rest." — W. S. K. Cameron, coeditor of Environmental Philosophy

• AcknowledgmentsAn Introduction to the Problem of Boundaries in Ecological Theory and PracticeCharles S. Brown Part I: The Human/Nature Divide and the Nature of Boundaries 1. Boundaries and Darwin: Bridging the Great Divide Max Oelschlaeger 2. Lamarck Redux: Temporal Scale as the Key to the Boundary Between the Human and Natural WorldsJ. Baird Callicott3. The Ethical Boundaries of Animal Biotechnology: Descartes, Spinoza, and DarwinStrachan Donnelley4. Cutting Nature at the Seams: Beyond Species Boundaries in a World of DiversityJon Jensen5. Respect for Experience as a Way into the Problem of Moral BoundariesCharles S. Brown6. Boundarylessness: Introducing a Systems Heuristic for Conceptualizing ComplexityBeth DempsterPart II: Community, Values, and Sustainability 7. Boundaries on the EdgeIrene J. Klaver8. Remapping Land Use: Remote Sensing, Institutional Approaches, and Landscape BoundariesFirooza Pavri9. Boundaries, Communities, and PoliticsAnna L. Peterson10. The Moral Economy and Politics of Water in the Arid American West T. Clay Arnold11. The Need for a Taxonomy of BoundariesWes Jackson and Jerry Glover12. How to do Things with Food: A Plea for Multiple OntologiesBruce Hirsch 13. Culture and Cultivation: Prolegomena to a Philosophy of AgricultureTed ToadvineNotes on ContributorsIndex