A number of thinkers are becoming increasingly persuaded
that our anthropocentric view of nature is inadequate, that we
need a "new morality" with regard to the environment. In this
essay, I argue that an alternative to anthropocentricism is
available to us now-and has been since at least 1836. I look at
three "checkpoints" in the evolution of environmental theory as
proof of this: 1) the publication of Emerson's book Nature, 2)
Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac, and 3) the contemporary
writing of Gretel Ehrlich, Gary Snyder, Wendell Berry, Mary
Oliver, and A. R. Ammons. In short, I show that all these writers
describe an aesthetic basis with which we may view nature that
leads to a system of ethical values. What they advocate is a
"moral framework" which I call noticing. My primary thesis is
that we don't need a "new morality": we need only turn to the
existing one these writers describe-and acknowledge it
