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From the Introduction to Wilderness, Morality, and Value
"We have reached a point in history when the continued existence of wilderness cannot be taken for granted. If, two hundred years from now, wilderness areas still exist, it will be because humanity has made a deliberate choice. The idea is disquieting but not hubristic. Left unchecked, humanity now possesses the capacity to hunt, mine, fish, farm, cultivate, settle, judgment, destroy or otherwise extend our influence over the entire biosphere. For wilderness to exist into the future, we must decide that it should and then maintain policies to ensure that it does. The decisions and policies will be influenced by the cogency of the arguments given in defense of wilderness. Philosophical analysis of those arguments — particularly the value of, and moral problems associated with, wilderness— has a role to play in the future of wilderness itself, whatever that future turns out to be." (ix)
Praise for Wilderness, Morality, and Value
This book, written by a professed lover of wilderness, is a sustained discussion – honest, fair-minded, and undogmatic – of a challenge to wilderness preservation. Wilderness areas are populated with animals whose lives are filled with appalling suffering. We may eventually be able to intervene in minimally invasive but effective ways to reduce this suffering, but the areas subject to this intervention might no longer be wilderness. I know of no better or more careful weighing of the claims of animal advocates and wilderness preservationists than that in Duclos’s lucid and eloquent book. -Jeff McMahan, University of Oxford
Wilderness, Morality, and Value presents the best explanation of – and the best introduction to – the philosophical literature on the concept and value of wilderness. The writing is so clear-minded, uncontentious, and informed that it convinces the reader that while there is still much to be written and thought about the subject, Duclos has given us the surest footing we have on current debates about the moral, aesthetic, spiritual, scientific, and other philosophical arguments about the value of wilderness and the reasons for preserving it. -Mark Sagoff, George Mason University
More reviews @ Rowman & Littlefield
Additional Publications
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"Virtue Ethics and the Relativism Trap" (under review)
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“The Desire for God: Movement and Wonder in Aristotle’s Metaphysics” (under review)
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“Do We Have a Duty to Abolish Wilderness?” Breakthrough Journal. Volume 19, 2023.
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“Dignity and Credibility in the Age of Information.” The Principal Post. June 2020.
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“Is Hunting Moral? A Philosopher Unpacks the Question.” The Conversation: January 2017.
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“Presence and Participation of Religious and Faith-Based Perspectives During the Drafting of the Convention on the Rights of the Child”: UNICEF, Office of Public Partnerships: March 2005.
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“Report on the Influence of Religion and Faith-Based Issues in the Annual Reports of the Committee on the Convention on the Rights of the Child”: UNICEF, Office of Public Partnerships: December 2004.
Selected Speaking Engagements & Public Media
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“Why Democracy?” New Hampshire Humanities (Forthcoming, Fall 2024)
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“Philosophy and the Russia-Ukraine War”: Fulbright Association. Fall 2024.
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“Ethics and Climate Crisis”: New Hampshire Humanities. January 2024.
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“Teaching Philosophy Outside the Academy”: American Philosophical Association Eastern. January 2024.
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“Wilderness, Morality, and Value”: Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology. September 2024.
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“The Metabolic Rift: Human Nature in Nature”: Breakthrough Institute, San Francisco. June 2023.
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“Aristotle’s Puzzling Metaphysics”: Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv. March 2023.
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“The Roots of Analytic Metaethics”: Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv. March 2023.
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“Carbon Emissions and Moral Duties”: National Polytechnic University, Lviv. March 2023.
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“Philosophical Anthropology”: Ivan-Franko University, Lviv. March 2023.
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“Invisible Philosophy: Using Other Disciplines to Teach Philosophy.” APA Eastern. January 2023.
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“Wilderness, Morality, and Value” (podcast): New Books Network. September 2022.
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“The Ethics of Hunting”: Real Talk with Ryan Jespersen, Radio Canada. May 2021.
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“Between Justice and Goodness: Conflicting Duties in the Face of Climate Change”: Salem State University. April 2021.
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“The Desire for God: Movement and Wonder in Aristotle’s Metaphysics”: APA Eastern Divison, January 2021.
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“Philosophy Begins in Apathy: Building Student Curiosity in Introductory Courses”: APA Eastern Division, January 2020.
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“What if Wilderness is Bad for Animals?”: Goodwin-Niering Center for the Environment and the Department of Philosophy at Connecticut College. October 2018.
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“Is Hunting Moral?”: The Kathleen Dunn Show, Wisconsin Public Radio, March 2017.
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“The Meaning of Nature in Urban Conservation”: Pardee Center for the Study of Longer-Range Future, Boston University. October 2016.
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“Rawls, Habermas, and the Problem of Religious Reason”: University of London, Symposium on Religion and Public Life. February 2016.
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“Can Religious Reasons be Public Reasons?”: Boston College. March 2013.