As a diverse and divided discipline, geography embodies tensions centr
al to the paradoxical nature of human dwelling on earth, from which qu
estions of environmental ethics arise. The article reviews major ontol
ogical and epistemological tensions within geography - that between na
ture and culture, and objectivism and subjectivism - emphasizing the w
ays in which common resolutions to these tensions often represent flaw
ed strategies of avoiding paradox. It then connects these tensions to
important philosophical dimensions of environmental ethics. I argue th
at normative environmental ethics must be built on an adequate sensiti
vity to the nature/culture tension, and that environmental meta-ethics
- specifically, the problem of relativism as applied to environmental
discourse - must be similarly informed by the object/subject tension.
The most fundamental contribution geography fan make, therefore, lies
in establishing a philosophical space for environmental ethics that t
akes paradox seriously and avoids its simplistic resolutions.