1. Introduction -- PART I: Sustainability and Ethics -- 2. The Meaning of Sustainability -- 3. The Inherent Ethical Dimension of Sustainability – Toward a Relational Ethical Perspective -- 4. Limits and Potential of Traditional Moral Philosophy and Current Ethics – Some Arguments For the Need For a New Type of Sustainability Ethics -- 5. The Challenges of Sustainability Ethics -- PART II: Meta-structures and Sustainability -- 6. Sustainability, Institutions, and Patterns of Thought and Action -- 7. Meta-structures -- 8. The Impact of the Web of Meta-structures on the Sustainability Relations -- PART III: Toward a New Sustainability Ethics -- 9. The Relational Dimension of Sustainability Ethics and the Role of Individual Morality -- 10. The Structural Dimension of Sustainability Ethics -- PART IV: Toward an Encompassing Sustainability Research -- 11. The Need For a New Type of Sustainability Research -- 12. Inter- and Transdisciplinarity -- 13. Capabilities and Personal Identity of the Researcher -- 14. The Role of Philosophy for Sustainability Research -- 15. Conclusion -- Index.

This philosophical contribution to the discussion of sustainability develops a distinct approach to sustainability ethics and suggests a new avenue for sustainability research.   Referring to the inherent ethical meaning of the modern concept of sustainability, the author argues that without an adequate recognition and analysis of this ethical meaning, the concept of sustainability is misunderstood and sustainability issues cannot be adequately approached.   The book identifies the specific ethical aspects of sustainability and develops ethical tools to analyze them. It also provides a methodological framework to integrate ethical and scientific analyses of sustainability issues, and explores the notion of a new type of self-reflective inter- and transdisciplinary sustainability research. With this, the book aims to strengthen the overall ability of academics to contribute to the analysis and solution of sustainability issues in an inclusive and integrated way.