Simon P. James

I came to philosophy by a roundabout route, taking a BSc in Biological Sciences followed by an MA in the History and Philosophy of Science, before obtaining a PhD for a thesis on environmental ethics. I have written a number of articles on environmental philosophy as well as the following books: Zen Buddhism and Environmental Ethics (Routledge, 2004), Buddhism, Virtue and Environment (Routledge, 2005; co-authored with David E. Cooper), The Presence of Nature: A Study in Phenomenology and Environmental Philosophy (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2009) and Environmental Philosophy: An Introduction (Polity, 2015). My new book, How Nature Matters (Oxford University Press, 2022), presents a new theory of environmental value, based on the concepts of meaning, constitution and cultural identity.