Let us imagine that humanity has almost died out and only a few people remain. Out of resentment or despair, the survivors cater to their destructive urges by destroying as much of the natural world as they can. They poison rivers and lakes, drop napalm on forests, set off a few nuclear warheads. They are at ease with their conscience because no one will ever be in the position to use or appreciate the nature they are destroying.
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| Pause and reflect on what really makes wilderness valuable. |
They are harming no one. But surely what they are doing is wrong.
The Australian environmental philosopher Richard Sylvan used this story to try to persuade us that nature has a value that is independent of our needs and desires, even our existence.
Read the piece on The Conversation by a Professor of Philosophy from La Trobe University, Janna Thompson - “The moral value of wilderness."
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