A good ethical theory requires both logical rigor and intuitive appeal to provide an effective tool for understanding what is right and what is wrong. In the field of environmental ethics, there has been significant scholarship in the development of an ethic of duty based on the intrinsic value of nature, most notably by Paul Taylor. In fact, Taylor provides a logically clear argument in favor of protecting the environment based on the principles he calls the biocentric perspective (Taylor, 99). While this scholarship has been helpful in offering an explanation for what those who value the environment intuitively recognize, some have noted that it does not provide positive answers about how we should live (Cafaro, 31). Virtue ethicists, on the other hand, have specifically addressed this question (Sandler, 6), and the result is a very accessible theory that harks back to classical naturalists such as Thoreau (Cafaro). Environmental virtue ethics, however, has its problems; it sometimes seems that virtue ethicists value human “flourishing” or “experiences of wonder” over the natural environment they claim to support (Rolston, 70). This article attempts to provide a framework for addressing this criticism of environmental virtue ethics by defining the limits of normative ethical systems and outlining guidelines for environmental virtues, as well as some of the advantages that a system of virtue ethics has over other approaches ethical. To discuss a system of environmental virtue ethics, it is necessary to determine what we mean when we talk about an ethical system. Ethics is a “branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of ultimate value and the standards by which human actions can be judged right or wrong.” (Britan...... half of document ......ædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 9 April 2007. Holmes Rolston III, “Environmental Virtue Ethics: Half the Truth, but Dangerous as a Whole” , Environmental Virtue Ethics, pp. 61-78 (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005) Ronald Sandler, “Introduction: Environmental Virtue Ethics,” Environmental Virtue Ethics, pp. 1-12 (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005) Ronald Sandler, “ A Virtue Ethics Perspective on Genetically Modified Crops,” Environmental Virtue Ethics, pp. 215-242 (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005) Paul W. Taylor, Respect for Nature: A Theory of Environmental Ethics (Princeton: Princeton University Press , 1986) Peter Wenz, “Synergistic Environmental Virtues: Consumerism and Human Prosperity”, Environmental Virtue Ethics, pp. 197-213, (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005)