Sapontzis presents a conceptual analysis of ‘value’ and applies this concept to the problem of valuing nature. This paper is devoted to an analysis of the concept ‘value’ and, based on that analysis, a discussion of the sorts of value that objects of environmental concern can have. These objects include nonhuman animals, plants, species of animals and plants, rivers, canyons, and other geological features, prairies, wetlands, rain forests, wilderness areas, and other ecosystems, and nature, the biosphere, or the so-called ‘biotic community’ itself. However, before undertaking that analysis and discussion, the author says a few words about the motivation for discussing the sorts of value such objects can have. (Henceforth, ‘nature’ will be used to refer to all these objects indiscriminately.)
