While many disciplines contribute to environmental conservation, there is little successful integration of science and social values. Arguing that the central problem in conservation is a lack of effective communication, Bryan Norton shows in "Sustainability" how current linguistic resources discourage any shared, multidisciplinary public deliberation over environmental goals and policy. In response, Norton develops a new, interdisciplinary approach to defining sustainability - the corner-stone of environmental policy - using philosophical and linguistic analyses to create a nonideological vocabulary that can accommodate scientific and evaluative environmental discourse. Emphasizing cooperation and adaptation through social learning, Norton provides a practical framework that encourages an experimental approach to language clarification and problem formulation, as well as an interdisciplinary approach to creating solutions. By moving beyond the scientific arena to acknowledge the importance of public discourse, "Sustainability" offers an entirely novel approach to environmentalism.

About the Author
Bryan G. Norton is professor of philosophy at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is the author of Linguistic Frameworks and Ontology, Why Preserve Natural Variety? and Toward Unity among Environmentalists and the editor of The Preservation of Species.


Book Information
ISBN 9780226595214
Author Bryan G. Norton
Format Paperback
Page Count 608
Imprint University of Chicago Press
Publisher The University of Chicago Press
Weight(grams) 936g
Dimensions(mm) 23mm * 15mm * 4mm