Limits in Nature: A Philosophical Exploration (Routledge Environmental Ethics)

Adopting a fresh approach, this book explores our understanding of nature’s limits and proposes a new perspective to reframe the relationship between these limits and human freedom.

Where should we look to uncover the deeper roots of today’s environmental disagreements?

A common answer might be: the conflict between nature’s limits and human freedom. Yet, surprisingly, this critical topic has received little direct attention. To delve into this issue, the book turns to ontology; the philosophical study of being, and argues that our ontological understanding of nature profoundly shapes our ideas about freedom. By rethinking what limits in nature truly mean, we can gain new insights into what happens when we exceed those limits; into the real role of science and technology; and into what genuinely enhances freedom versus what diminishes it. Ultimately, the book contends that our current trajectory sacrifices the environment for a system that paradoxically offers less and less freedom. If this argument holds, it opens the door to reassessing the entrenched understanding of the conflict between human freedom and nature’s limits to find a more lasting path forward.

This book is a must-read for environmental scholars seeking to deepen their understanding of the philosophical underpinnings of today’s ecological challenges.

Svein Anders Noer Lie is an associate professor at The Arctic University of Norway―UiT in Tromsø. He has previously published the book Limits in Nature: Rethinking Naturalness (2016) and a number of papers in environmental philosophy, philosophy of technology and philosophy of medicine. He is the current leader of the environmental philosophy network at UiT.