Staff profile

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 in 2001.

My work engages with a wide range of issues in environmental philosophy, from Buddhist approaches to wildlife conservation to our moral relations with rock formations, and from the (so-called) problem of animal minds to the virtue ethical question of whether a good life must be a green life.

In my spare time, I enjoy playing guitar and (with Helen and our two daughters, Emily and Charlotte) walking in wild (or wildish) places.

Office Hours

During Michaelmas Term: Tuesday 09:30am-11am and 3:15pm-14:45pm.

Epiphany Term: No office hours (on research leave)

Easter Term: Monday 1pm-4pm

My office is Room 201, upstairs in 50 Old Elvet, the main building of the Philosophy Department.

Undergraduate Teaching

• Ethics and Values
• Philosophy of Religion

• Environmental philosophy
• Existential phenomenology
• Buddhist philosophy

Authored book

• James, S. P. (2022). How Nature Matters: Culture, Identity, and Environmental Value. Oxford University Press
• James, S. P. (2015). Environmental Philosophy: An Introduction. Polity Press
• James, S. (2009). The Presence of Nature: A Study in Phenomenology and Environmental Philosophy. (1). Palgrave Macmillan
• Cooper, D. E., & James, S. P. (2005). Buddhism, Virtue and Environment. Ashgate Publishing
• James, S. P. (2004). Zen Buddhism and Environmental Ethics. Ashgate Publishing

Chapter in book

• James, S. P. Asian Philosophy. In Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy. Gale
• James, S. P. (2016). Phenomenology and the Charge of Anthropocentrism. In B. Bannon (Ed.), Nature and Experience: Phenomenology and the Environment (43-52). Rowman & Littlefield
• James, S. P. (2014). Green Managerialism and the Erosion of Meaning. In M. Drenthen, & J. Keulartz (Eds.), Old world and new world perspectives in environmental philosophy : transatlantic conversations (139-150). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07683-6_9
• James, S. P. (2013). Buddhism and Environmental Ethics. In S. M. Emmanuel (Ed.), A companion to Buddhist philosophy (601-612). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118324004.ch39
• James, S. P. (2012). Conserving Nature's Meanings. In E. Brady, & P. Phemister (Eds.), Embodied Values and the Environment. Springer Verlag
• James, S. P. (2005). Environmental and Ecological Philosophy. In The Oxford Companion to Philosophy 2nd ed. (2nd). Oxford University Press
• James, S. P. (2001). Martin Heidegger. In 50 Environmental Thinkers (189-94). Routledge

Journal Article

• James, S. P. (2024). Rarity and Endangerment: Why Do They Matter?. Environmental Values, 33(3), 296–310. https://doi.org/10.1177/09632719231171836
• James, S. P. (2022). Against Relational Value. The Harvard Review of Philosophy, 29, 45-54. https://doi.org/10.5840/harvardreview20228645
• James, S. P. (2020). Climate Justice: Some Challenges for Buddhist Ethics. Journal of Buddhist ethics, 27,
• James, S. P. (2020). Legal Rights and Nature's Contributions to People: Is There a Connection?. Biological Conservation, 241, Article 108325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108325
• James, S. P. (2019). Suffering and the Primacy of Virtue. Analysis, 79(4), 605-613. https://doi.org/10.1093/analys/anz049
• James, S. P. (2019). Nature's Indifference. Environmental Ethics, 41(2), 115-128. https://doi.org/10.5840/enviroethics201941212
• James, S. P. (2019). Natural Meanings and Cultural Values. Environmental Ethics, 41(1), 3-16. https://doi.org/10.5840/enviroethics20194112
• James, S. P. (2018). Merleau-Ponty and Metaphysical Realism. European Journal of Philosophy, 26(4), 1312-1323. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejop.12386
• James, S. P. (2018). Madhyamaka, Metaphysical Realism and the Possibility of an Ancestral World. Philosophy East and West, 68(4), 1116-1133. https://doi.org/10.1353/pew.0.0132
• James, S. P. (2016). Letting Nature take its Course (editorial for Environmental Values). Environmental Values, 25(4), i-iv. https://doi.org/10.3197/096327116x14661540759070
• James, S. P. (2016). Protecting Nature for the Sake of Human Beings. Ratio: An international journal of analytic philosophy, 29(2), 213-227. https://doi.org/10.1111/rati.12091
• James, S. P. (2016). The Trouble with Environmental Values. Environmental Values, 25(2), 131-144. https://doi.org/10.3197/096327116x14552114338747
• James, S. P. (2016). Ecosystem Services and the Value of Places. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 19(1), 101-113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-015-9592-6
• James, S. P. (2015). Cultural Ecosystem Services: A Critical Assessment. Ethics, Policy & Environment, 18(3), 338-350. https://doi.org/10.1080/21550085.2015.1111616
• James, S. P. (2015). Why Old Things Matter. Journal of Moral Philosophy, 12(3), 313-329. https://doi.org/10.1163/17455243-4681038
• James, S. (2015). The New Greenspeak. Earth Island journal, 30(1),
• James, S. P. (2014). “Nothing Truly Wild is Unclean”: Muir, Misanthropy, and the Aesthetics of Dirt. Environmental Ethics, 36(3), 357-363. https://doi.org/10.5840/enviroethics201436335
• James, S. P. (2013). Finding - and Failing to Find - Meaning in Nature. Environmental Values, 22(5), 609-625. https://doi.org/10.3197/096327113x13745164553833
• James, S. P. (2013). Cherished Places and Ecosystem Services. Ethics, Policy & Environment, 16(3), 264-266. https://doi.org/10.1080/21550085.2013.843370
• James, S. P. (2013). Philistinism and the Preservation of Nature. Philosophy, 88(1), 101-114. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0031819112000575
• James, S. P. (2011). For the Sake of a Stone? Inanimate Things and the Demands of Morality. Inquiry, 54(4), 384-397. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174x.2011.592343
• James, S. P. (2009). Phenomenology and the Problem of Animal Minds. Environmental Values, 18(1), 33-49. https://doi.org/10.3197/096327109x404735
• James, S. P. (2008). How Green is Buddhism?
• James, S. P. (2007). Merleau-Ponty, Metaphysical Realism and the Natural World. International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 15(4), 501-519. https://doi.org/10.1080/09672550701654917
• James, S. P. (2007). Against Holism: Rethinking Buddhist Environmental Ethics. Environmental Values, 16,
• James, S. P. (2006). Human Virtues and Natural Values. Environmental Ethics, 28(4), 339-354
• James Simon, P. (2006). ‘Buddhism and the Ethics of Species Conservation’. Environmental Values, 15(1), 85-97. https://doi.org/10.3197/096327106776678942
• James, S. P. (2005). Awakening to Language in Heidegger and Zen
• James, S. P. (2004). The Possibility of an Environmental Virtue Ethic
• James, S. P. (2003). Zen Buddhism and the Intrinsic Value of Nature. Contemporary Buddhism, 4(2), 143-157. https://doi.org/10.1080/1463994032000162965
• James, S. P. (2002). Heidegger and the Role of the Body in Environmental Virtue. The Trumpeter: Journal of Ecosophy, 18(1),

Other (Print)

• James, S. P. (2017). Conflict and Resolution (editorial for Environmental Values)