Tracing the Path of Sustainable Development through Major International Conferences: A Brief History and Overview of Sustainable Development 1964-2002 Page: 56
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decisions based on both human and ecosystemic concerns. Though this seems to be a
perfectly logical way of achieving the goal of policy change, it has arguably not been
terribly successful. For one thing, there has been much philosophical opposition to the
notion of ecocentrism and consequently a revisiting and redefining of
anthropocentrism.112 While this opposition has fallen short of satisfying the many
critiques of ecocentrism, it has proven successful at allying many top thinkers to its side.
As a result, the field of environmental ethics finds itself in the midst of a
seemingly deep and impassible dichotomy. The debate about ecocentrism and
anthropocentrism, or the metaethical and metaphysical debate surrounding values as they
directly or indirectly relate to nature, has led to a very significant and critical analysis of
the field of environmental ethics itself. Many notable environmental philosophers are
beginning to question the relevance and effectiveness of environmental ethics as a sub-
discipline of philosophy as it relates to affecting public policy. This inevitably leads to
the dispute about theory and application. The majority of those who are beginning to
question the effectiveness of environmental ethics do so on the grounds that it, as a
discipline, has been consumed with answering only theoretical and not practical
problems. These critics can generally be identified as environmental pragmatists. It
should be noted of course that there is not simply one form of environmental pragmatism,
but for the purposes of this discussion, and in a general sense, they have the same critique
of environmental ethics.113 The environmental pragmatist's critique of environmental
112 Bryan Norton has redefined anthropocentrism in terms of strong and weak, see Norton, "Environmental
Ethics and Weak Anthropocentrism," Environmental Ethics 6 (1984): 131-48.
113 For a more detailed explanation of the differences between environmental pragmatists, see the
Introduction to Andrew Light and Eric Katz, Environmental Pragmatism (Routledge: New York, 1996), pp.56
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Dunn, Benjamin P. Tracing the Path of Sustainable Development through Major International Conferences: A Brief History and Overview of Sustainable Development 1964-2002, thesis, May 2010; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc28413/m1/60/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .