The Intrinsic Worth of Nature

Here is a provocative conclusion from Chris J. Magoc in the 1999 book Yellowstone: The Creation and Selling of an American Landscape, 1870-1903: “Americans on the whole are too pragmatic, too industrious, too anthropocentric a bunch to ever accept the notion of the intrinsic worth or rights of nature, however defined.”

Does nature have an intrinsic worth outside of what meaningful value humans attribute to it? Can Americans ever accept such a notion? How would acceptance of such an idea transform American society?

* * * * * *