The philosophical foundations of environmental law : property, rights, and nature
"Environmental law, it is argued, is underpinned by a series of tenets concerning the relationship of human beings to the natural world, through the acquisition and use of property. By tracing these ideas to their roots in the political philosophy of the seventeenth century, and their reception into the early law of nuisance, this book seeks to overturn the perception that environmental law's philosophical significance is confined to questions about the extent to which a state should pursue collective well-being and public health through deliberate manipulation and restriction of private property rights. Through a close re-examination of both early and modern statutes and cases, this book concludes that, far from being intelligible in exclusively instrumental terms, environmental law must be understood as the product of sustained reflection upon fundamental moral questions concerning the relationship between property rights and nature."--BOOK JACKET
xv, 228 pages ; 24 cm
9781841133591, 9781841133607, 1841133590, 1841133604
55531382
Introduction
Nature and the state of nature
Commerce, capitalism and the common law
Legal regulation and environmental values
The changing face of environmental law