Environmental ethics and the social construction of nature

Nature can be understood as socially constructed in two senses: in differen t cultures' interpretations of the nonhuman world and in the physical ways that humans have shaped even areas that they think of as "natural." Both un derstandings are important for environmental ethics insofar as they highlig ht the diversity of ways of viewing and living in nature. However, strong v ersions of the social constructionist argument contend that there is no "na ture" apart from human discourse and practices. This claim is problematic b oth logically, insofar as it fails to deconstruct the notion of culture, an d ethically, insofar as it categorically privileges human activities and tr aits.