The Agrarian Vision

Sustainability and Environmental Ethics

Paul B. Thompson

Narrated by David Gilmore

Available from Audible

Book published by University Press of Kentucky

As industry and technology proliferate in modern society, sustainability has jumped to the forefront of contemporary political and environmental discussions. The balance between progress and the earth’s ability to provide for its inhabitants grows increasingly precarious as we attempt to achieve sustainable development. In The Agrarian Vision: Sustainability and Environmental Ethics, Paul B. Thompson articulates a new agrarian philosophy, emphasizing the vital role of agrarianism in modern agricultural practices. Thompson, a highly regarded voice in environmental philosophy, unites concepts of agrarian philosophy, political theory, and environmental ethics to illustrate the importance of creating and maintaining environmentally conscious communities. Thompson describes the evolution of agrarian values in America, following the path blazed by Thomas Jefferson, John Steinbeck, and Wendell Berry.

Providing a pragmatic approach to ecological responsibility and commitment, The Agrarian Vision is a significant, compelling argument for the practice of a reconfigured and expanded agrarianism in our efforts to support modern industrialized culture while also preserving the natural world.

Paul B. Thompson , the W. K. Kellogg Chair in Agricultural, Food, and Community Ethics at Michigan State University, is the author of numerous books including The Spirit of the Soil: Agriculture and Environmental Ethics.

REVIEWS:

“A timely and major contribution to bridging the rapidly growing movements of sustainable agriculture and localization with fields of environmental ethics and sustainability.”

—Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences

“Paul Thompson has truly been an inspiration and mentor to all of us interested in ethics and agriculture. His many publications have provided a unique contribution to the history of American thought. This work on agrarianism provides us with yet another stellar analysis of an important ethical issue. The agrarian philosophy which Thompson articulates in this new analysis, probably his best book yet, provides us with a fresh, pragmatic approach to fulfilling our ecological responsibility whether we are farmers, policy makers, or eaters.”

—Frederick L. Kirschenmann, Distinguished Fellow, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University, and president of the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture

“Thompson shows the centrality of agriculture and its communities not just to our livelihood, health, and security, but to the beauty and sense of place that unites us historically and politically. With this book he brings all the power of analytic philosophy to environmental ethics.”

—Mark Sagoff, director of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at the University of Maryland and author of The Economy of the Earth: Philosophy, Law, and the Environment

“A valuable and important synthesis of Thompson’s pioneering work in the philosophy of agriculture and the environment. This book makes a compelling case for the vitality of the agrarian tradition and its role in the search for sustainability in the twenty-first century.”

—Ben A. Minteer, author of The Landscape of Reform: Civic Pragmatism and Environmental Thought in America