By Maria Antonia Tigre
This article calls for a reassessment of our core beliefs on how we relate to the environment through a deep dive into the philosophical foundations of environmental protection. With this purpose, it shows how Earth-centered discourses have existed in human societies and civilizations for millennia. Different religious and philosophical underpinnings all share a view of humanity as an integral part of an organic whole, revering all living things. While recent developments in jurisprudence may appear novel, they are somewhat latent and emergent. Theories of land ethics, rights of nature, Earth-centered environmental ethics, wild law, and Earth jurisprudence all build on these philosophical crescendos and have proved influential at the international level. It is time to find new approaches to the law that rely on the value of nature. This article tells us the why and the how.
Read the article Exploring the Bedrock for Earth Jurisprudence in Columbia Law School's Scholarship Archive here.