Abstract

David Schlosberg argues that Nussbaum’s capabilities approach can include ecosystems as subjects of justice if we view integrity, rather than dignity, as the conceptual ground for being a subject of justice. I further specify Schlosberg’s concept of ecosystem integrity, arguing that it should be understood as loose integrity. An ecosystem has loose integrity if it retains its capacity to return, after disruption, to functioning as substantially the same kind of system it was before disruption. Finally, I argue that the opportunity for ecosystems to maintain loose integrity can become the object of an overlapping consensus.