Paul W. Taylor

Paul W. Taylor (November 19, 1923 – October 14, 2015) was a philosopher best known for his work in the field of environmental ethics. His theory of biocentric egalitarianism, related to but not identical with deep ecology, was expounded in his 1986 book Respect for Nature: A Theory of Environmental Ethics, and is regularly taught in university courses on environmental ethics.

Taylor's Respect for Nature is widely considered one of the fullest and most sophisticated defenses of a life-centered (biocentric) approach to nature. In that work, Taylor agrees with biocentrists that all living things, both plants and animals, have inherent value and deserve moral concern and consideration. More radically, he denies human superiority and argues that all living things have equal inherent value and moral worth. Recognizing that human interests inevitably conflict with the interests of plants and animals, Taylor carefully lays out and defends a variety of priority principles for the fair resolution of such conflicts.

Taylor taught philosophy for four decades at Brooklyn College, City University of New York and was professor emeritus there at the time of his death.

Bibliography
  • Normative Discourse (Prentice-Hall, 1961; Greenwood Press, 1973, 1976)
  • Principles of Ethics: An Introduction (Dickenson, 1975; Wadsworth, 1980)
  • Respect for Nature: A Theory of Environmental Ethics (Princeton University Press, 1986)
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