Lennon, MickMickLennonDuvall, PhoebePhoebeDuvallO'Neill, EoinEoinO'Neill2020-07-172020-07-172018 Canad2019-12-31Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning1522-7200http://hdl.handle.net/10197/11424Wilderness is most often conceived as comprising large remote areas where evidence of human influence is slight. Little attention has been afforded to the study of wilderness ‘making’ in smaller landscapes that have been heavily modified by human activity. This paper addresses this knowledge deficit by employing the pragmatic sociology of Boltanski and Thévenot to analyse a case study of wilderness making in the west of Ireland. The application of this framework illustrates how contending positions on ‘why’ wilderness making should occur and ‘how’ it should be conducted reflect ethical frameworks rooted in different conceptions of the ‘common good’ presented by the idea of wilderness. The paper demonstrates the difficulties with developing such a new nature-based concept in the absence of conventional (received) ideas of wilderness by revealing how the diverging justifications used suggest incommensurability in the competing notions of wilderness that are formulated and advanced.enThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Canadian Journal of Philosophy on 2 Dec. 2019, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/1523908X.2019.1697656.JustificationCommon goodBoltanskiThévenotJournal Article22330131410.1080/1523908X.2019.16976562019-12-02https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ie/