The Spirit of the Soil: Agriculture and Environmental Ethics

The Spirit of the Soil helped launch agricultural ethics as a field more than 20 years ago. It challenged readers to think deeply about agriculture's impact on the environment, including the use of pesticides and new biotechnologies, and compared four "worldviews"-productionism, stewardship, economics, and holism-and their different ethical interpretations. This 2nd Edition incorporates recent empirical research in agricultural science, covers the impact of climate change, adds information on alternative food systems (organic farming and locavorism), and augments the author's increased support for a "systems perspective" when thinking about agriculture and implementing policy.

Author: Paul B. Thompson
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 05/26/2017
Pages: 264
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.16lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.63d
ISBN: 9781138676626

About the Author

Paul B. Thompson has done research and teaching on the environmental ethics of agriculture and food systems for over 35 years. He was a founding member and former President of the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society, and a two- time winner of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association's Award for Excellence in Communication. Prior to assuming his present post at Michigan State, he held faculty positions in philosophy at Texas A&M University and Purdue University.