This chapter reconceptualises environmental competence as a dynamic capability rooted in an interconnected blend of knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, understanding and desire. Drawing on foundational models, it examines the structural components of pro-environmental behaviour and links these to empirical studies emphasising the foundations of ecological action. Building on this, the chapter introduces dynamic frameworks – particularly the sustainability competency models developed by Wiek, Withycombe and Redman and extended by Redman and Wiek – which emphasise collaborative, anticipatory, normative and strategic dimensions of sustainability planning. Through reflective tasks and case-based learning, readers are encouraged to recognise and cultivate transformative competencies, such as intercultural mediation and intra-personal awareness, essential for navigating global environmental challenges. The chapter also highlights concepts like Kickwa alli kawsay and Japanese kizuna as culturally embedded pathways towards sustainable living, reinforcing the argument that environmental competence must be pluralistic, inclusive and action-oriented. Ultimately, the text advocates for a holistic shift from static notions of competence to adaptive, integrative models that empower individuals and communities to enact meaningful change within diverse societal contexts.

There are two readings of how Sellars analyzed ought-statements: a first-order expressivist reading and a metalinguistic reading. In this chapter, I argue that unpublished draft material related to the creation of a key text in Sellars’s practical philosophy, the last chapter of Science and Metaphysics, shows that Sellars at least seriously considered adopting a metalinguistic analysis of “ought.” I also explore the relation between these exegetical questions and the broader problems raised by Sellars’s thought. Which reading of Sellars on “ought” we adopt can affect our outlook on the place of norms in Sellars’s scientific naturalism. I argue that a metalinguistic reading of “ought” permits the view that norms can become perfectly implicit at Sellars’s ideal end of inquiry.

Chapter 2 reviews John Merryman’s ‘two ways of thinking’ about cultural property, rooted in an eighteenth-century dispute about the respective merits of particularism and cosmopolitanism, which continues to the present. A new section has been added on material looted from Benin.

The sale, twice, of a Medici cabinet ordered for an English estate introduces the modern idea of heritage, initiated by Edmund Burke. It covers Protestant narratives and customary laws, and concludes with Alasdair MacIntyre’s thesis about narrative and identity.

Focused on China, Chapter 4 explores ideological competition in the construction of heritage. New material has been added on holding human remains. It concludes with a major set of Buddhist figures to set up the discussion about the reintegration of sculptural groups.

Chapter 5 begins with export controls and then moves to the domestic regulation of art and architecture in common law countries, with the removal of a Tiffany mosaic as the test case. Finally, it examines a ‘compositional’ reason to reintegrate the Parthenon frieze.

Chapter 1 opens with a discussion of values, which frames the volume. It then reviews four well-known works/groups of work to introduce a debate about cultural ownership, beginning with the Bamiyan Buddhas, followed by Guernica, the Parthenon sculptures, and Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of George Washington.

The final chapter opens with a hypothetical debate between cosmopolitan and particularist positions, which is then mapped onto contemporary political philosophy. It concludes with Joseph Raz’s pluralist and perfectionist liberal requirement that states should support culture.

The traditional narratives of Austrian constitutional law are evolving. Long decried by scholars and practitioners to be ‘in ruins’, the Austrian Constitution has recently been lauded as ‘elegant and beautiful’ by Austria’s President, thus attempting a paradigm shift in the Austrian public’s perception of its constitution. While some textbooks claim it (still) is a merely formal, ‘value neutral constitution of game rules’ much in the spirit of Hans Kelsen, the Austrian Constitution and its interpretation show more and more signs of converging into a principled, value-oriented and purposive approach common in many other countries. The multinational legal legacy of the Habsburg Empire and its potential for understanding the European integration have been recognized as an asset, just as the ensuing creation of the world’s first constitutional court is of pride and the Austrian Constitution’s leading export.

The authors discuss haunting aspects resulting from a request for ethics consultation to support surrogate decision-maker authorization of long-acting reversible contraception in an individual with disabilities. The authors highlight the ethical tension between procreative freedom and equitable access to contraception, particularly noting ableism underlying each side of the argument. Bringing in prior case law, the authors favor a least-restrictive approach to contraception to best preserve the individual’s reproductive rights.

The narrative of the chapter explores haunting aspects of a patient’s inability to participate in capacity assessment due to communication challenges and generalized weakness. Through relying on prior wishes and historical context provided by the surrogate decision-maker, the ethical analysis presented by the authors demonstrates expressed concern with the surrogate decision-maker’s request for long-acting reversible contraception. As the consultation progresses to the patient’s assent to an informal arrangement of supported decision-making, each author shares their professional reflections on issues including equity, diversity and inclusion with a keen focus on ableism in the care of individuals with disabilities. While it may be legally permissible as well as ethically supportable to permit for surrogate decision-maker authorization of long-acting reversible contraception through supported decision-making, the authors grapple with whether the decision honored the patient’s values.

This chapter further develops the framework presented in the previous chapter. It does so by elaborating upon the value pluralism involved in the umbel view and the substantial interior of the framework. The chapter begins by accounting for the pluralism involved in the umbel view and discussing what that implies for political priority-setting. It then argues that the capability approach, developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, provides the best available currency of justice for a multiple threshold sufficientarian theory. The chapter then moves on to provide a suggested index of eight spheres of capabilities relevant for sufficientarian justice. The index includes the following items: Basic Needs, Health, Education, Meaningful Work, Political Equality, Community, Social Status, Reasonable Autonomy. The purpose of the index is to serve as input into the further interdisciplinary and public debate on the identification of the justice-relevant threshold. The chapter ends by emphasizing that public policy should give particular priority to manifest deficiencies, such as cases of deficiency clusters, where the same group of people face insufficiency in several value spheres.

For three decades, politicians have promised that new technologies will solve climate change, but they haven’t emerged at meaningful scale. So, instead we must act with technologies we already have, which will involve some restraint. However, knowing this fact does not of itself motivate change. Instead, we present a new framing of our response to climate change as an expression of our values. The restraint, perhaps lasting for two or three decades, that is required to deal with climate change is not only a sacrifice. Embracing it can also help us to find a different good life, as responsible and joyful custodians of creation. The seven virtues inspire us to lift up our heads, be honest about the options and motivate our action, and encourage us to find a safe climate, in good faith.