Obligation, Perfection, and Nature: Toward a Relational Environmental Ethics

Abstract It seems morally wrong to be cruel to animals, to wantonly destroy a redwood, or to pollute rivers. Such obligations are often perceived as counter-examples to relational approaches to ethics. Call this the Nature Objection. My aim in this paper is to tackle the Nature Objection. I argue that when a relational ethics is anchored in the perfectionist tradition, the objection is bypassed, for our obligations with regard to other living beings are, in fact, relational. At the same time, centering relational ethics in perfectionism transforms our understanding of relational ethics as well.