This article addresses the stalemate on the question of whether biodiversity has intrinsic value. I distinguish between a “weak” conception and two “strong” conceptions of intrinsic value in the environmental ethics literature. The strong conceptions of intrinsic value are connected, respectively, to moral standing and to a strongly objectivist account of value. Neither of these forms of value likely applies to biodiversity. However, the weak conception of intrinsic value is neutral about both moral standing and the nature of value and plausibly applies to biodiversity. In addition, weak intrinsic value avoids common objections to the claim that biodiversity is intrinsically valuable. I develop a cumulative argument showing that environmentalists should presume that biodiversity has intrinsic value in the weak sense.

Katie H. Morrow

Environmental Values

Environmental Values is an international peer-reviewed journal that brings together contributions from philosophy, economics, politics, sociology, geography, anthropology, ecology and other disciplines, which relate to the present and future environment of human beings and other species. In doing so we aim to clarify the relationship between practical policy issues and more fundamental underlying principles or assumptions.

Environmental Values is an international peer-reviewed journal that brings together contributions from various disciplines, including philosophy, economics, politics, sociology, geography, anthropology, and ecology, related to the current and future environment of human beings and other species. Our aim is to clarify the relationship between practical policy issues and the more fundamental underlying principles or assumptions.

《Environmental Values》是一本国际同行评审期刊，汇集了来自哲学、经济学、政治学、社会学、地理学、人类学、生态学等多个学科的贡献，涉及人类及其他物种的当前和未来环境。我们的目标是澄清实际政策问题与更基本的原则或假设之间的关系。

Category	Quartile
哲学	2
哲学, 伦理学	2
哲学, 环境研究	3

Toward a consensus on the intrinsic value of biodiversity

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