Lifeworld (forthcoming)
A Fresh Approach to Environmental Philosophy
John Foster
Foster is a uniquely serious voice in contemporary environmental philosophy.
Rupert Read, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and Co-Director of the Climate Majority Project
Philosophy has overwhelmingly considered our environmental responsibility as a moral issue. But it is something much deeper and more important than that.
The ethical template fails because obligations to the future or to nature which can only be arbitrated by present humans can only be pseudo-obligations. This accounts for much of the procrastination and bad faith that has dogged the sustainability agenda. But our real responsibility is to understand the natural world as reflecting humanity’s species life-form just as the lifeworlds of other creatures reflect theirs. This we can only do out of the creativity of life working through us. And that ‘deep naturalist’ understanding demands a revolution in how we think about the politics of climate and ecological crisis.
This is a book both for those new to environmental philosophy and for those dissatisfied with it. Parts I and II provide a concise critical introduction to the subject as hitherto practised, while Part III offers an original and far-reaching alternative, of which Part IV explores the political implications. The whole approach thus speaks to a wide range of interests in how philosophy bears on the crucial challenge of our time.
This book is Open Access through the support of Lancaster University and The Open Book Collective.
John Foster is a freelance philosophy teacher and an honorary Teaching Fellow in Philosophy at Lancaster University. He is the author of various books including, most recently, Realism and the Climate Crisis: Hope for Life (2022).
CONTENTS
Introduction: Why Environmental Philosophy?
Part I. Fundamentals
Chapter 1. The Structure of Environmental Issues
Chapter 2. Humans and Nature
Part II. Environmental Moralities
Chapter 3. Protecting Future People?
Chapter 4. Treating Future People Fairly?
Chapter 5. Non-Anthropocentric Morality?
Part III. The Human Lifeworld
Chapter 6. On Not Being a Bat
Chapter 7. Deep Naturalism
Chapter 8. Metaphysical Implications
Chapter 9. Human Creativity
Chapter 10. The Creativity of Life
Part IV. Lifeworld Politics
Chapter 11. Environmental Epistocracy
Chapter 12 • Therapeutic Politics and the Authority of Life
Publication date: 1 June 2026
ISBN 978-1-917813-04-4 (PB) £25
eISBN 978-1-917813-05-1 (Open Access ebook)