Environmental Ethics

Born in Staunton, Virginia, Holmes Rolston received both a theological and secular education. After receiving a B.S. degree in philosophy from Davidson University in 1953, he went on to earn a divinity degree from the Union Theological Seminary (1956) and a Ph.D. in theology from the University of Edinburgh (1958). Rolston initially taught philosophy at Hampden-Sydney College in 1958, before becoming pastor of the Walnut Grove Presbyterian Church in Bristol, Virginia, where he remained until 1967. Since 1968 he has been professor of philosophy at Colorado State University. Rolston's main areas of research and writing have focused on the interrelationship between ecology and religion and on ecological ethics and environmental issues. He is the associate editor of the Journal of Environmental Ethics, which is a primary outlet for articles in the field of environmental ethics. One of Rolston's main themes is that science can be used to promote religious experience, rather than destroy it. 020