PHI 3682: Honors Environmental Philosophy

Fall 2005

http://wise.fau.edu/~dwhite/courses/PHI3682f05.htm

See my Web page for Office Hours and Syllabi: http://wise.fau.edu/~dwhite

(Please note: this syllabus is subject to regular updates; you should check this online version weekly.)

Course Description: This course provides a study of contemporary environmental philosophy, including ethical and practical issues related to the natural environment. As part of this inquiry the course focuses on the history of ideas regarding nature, on the relevance of traditional ethical standpoints to environmental issues, and the significance of both for current scientific reportage regarding the ecological crisis. We will study contributions of the European philosophical tradition as well as those of other world cultures to the ideas of nature, humanity, community, and morality underlying environmental issues. We will consider ecological ideas from an interdisciplinary perspective, including the natural and social sciences as well as the humanities. The contributions of ecological feminism to the study of gender and the environment will also be our concern. Our discussion will be both theoretical and practical, encouraging each class participant to explore options for a viable ecological ethic. Each of you will be responsible for developing your own point of view based on the study of primary and secondary sources. Each will participate in class discussion, write essays and dialogues, cooperate in a group presentation, and explore the range of sources available in environmental studies. We will pay special attention to the widening range of electronic media relevant to ecological issues. Our study will be historical, thematic, multicultural and interdisciplinary, as the character of environmental thinking requires. This course has been approved for the Environmental Studies requirement in the HC Core and for the Environmental Studies concentration.

This course fulfills the Gordon Rule writing requirement of 6,000 words.

Course Requirements and Grades:

1) Final essay written outside of class, each at least 1,300 words in length: 20% of the final grade.

2) A series of twelve responses (assigned in class, 350 words apiece, written in and out of class), in essay form (totaling a minimum of 4,200

words); = altogether 60% of final grade.

3) A group presentation or project, including a 500 word outline and bibliography: 20% of final grade.

4) Regular class attendance and participation are required; repeated unexcused absences will result in a reduction of grade.

5) Essays and dialogues written outside of class will be graded for composition and content; in-class essays will be graded holistically.

You should purchase a copy of Muriel Harris, Writer's FAQ's, A Pocket Handbook, 2/e, 0-13-183125-9, available in the bookstore, for guidance in writing.

Students enrolled in this course agree to abide by the Honors College Honor Code. Please review this important document: http://www.fau.edu/divdept/honcol/students/honorcode.html.

Required Texts and Sources:

1) Schmidtz, David and Elizabeth Willott, eds., Environmental Ethics (Oxford UP), abbreviated EE

2) Worldwatch Institute: Vital Signs 2005: http://www.worldwatch.org/, abbreviated VS

3) Worldwatch CD ROM, in Honors College computer lab: contains Worldwatch publications from the last three years to date

4) Readings on Library Reserve (see syllabus below for authors and texts)

5) Online sources (please see syllabus below)

6) Environmental Ethics. Leading journal in the titular field, available in our library. You may either read the issues available in the library or, for your convenience, order them online (one year, 4 issues, is $25.00): http://www.cep.unt.edu/

library .

8) Films:

a) Waters of Destiny (on the Kissimmee River Restoration Project)

b) Bill Moyers, Earth on Edge. See the PBS Website for the program: http://www.pbs.org/earthonedge/

c) Butterfly

d) In Light of Reverence

e) Nova: The Gaia Hypothesis

f) Burke, After the Warming

Links for Further Reflection:

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005

Nova: World in the Balance 2005

Global Warming Update

Endangered Species Act Debate

The Online NewsHour: Rebuilding the Gulf Coast | PBS

Syllabus

Week T & R Assignments

1) August 23-25 Response 1
Introductory perspectives: Schmidtz and Willott, “Why Environmental Ethics?” EE xi—xxi; Easterbrook, “A Moment on the Earth,” Leopold, “Thinking Like a Mountain,” White: “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis”[1] in EE, ch. 1. Brown, Preface. Film and discussion: Waters of Destiny (on the Kissimmee River Project). Recommended reading: Manussos Marangudakis: The Medieval Roots of Our Environmental Crisis,” Environmental Ethics 23 (Fall 2001), on reserve; Vital Signs, preface.

2) Aug. 30-Sept. 1 Response 2 (August 30, drop deadline)
Animal Liberation and the Land Ethic Singer, All Animals are Equal,” Leopold, “The Land Ethic,” Rolston III, “Values in and Duties to the Natural World,” Sagoff, “Animal Liberation and Environmental Ethics,” EE ch. 2; Vital Signs, “Environmental Features,” pp. 86ff.

3) September 6-8 Response 3 (Monday is Labor Day Holiday)
Extending the Realm of Rights: Film: Butterfly. “Stone, “Should Trees Have Standing?”, Feinberg, “The Rights of Animals,” “Attfield, “The Good of Trees,” Midgley, “Duties Concerning Islands,” EE ch. 3. Recommended Reading: Brown Beth Dixon, “Animal Emotion,” Ethics & the Environment, 6.2, Autumn 2001 (online, Project Muse); Fank Chessa: “Endangered Species and the Right to Die,” Environmental Ethics 27 (spring 2005).

4) September 13-15 Response 4
Species Equality, Respect for Nature and Consumer Society: “Taylor, “The Ethics of Respect for Nature,” Schmidtz, “Are all Species Equal?” EE, ch. 4; “ Recommended: Frank Schalow, “Who Speaks for the Animals? Heidegger and the Question of Animal Welfare,” Environmental Ethics 22 (fall 2000); “Nietzsche's Environmental Philosophy: A Trans-European Perspective” Environmental Ethics 27 (spring 2005); Vital Signs, , “Food Trends” pp. 21ff.

5) September 20-22 Responese 5
Environmental Holism: Film: Nova: The Gaia Hypothesis. Regan, “How to Worry About Endangered Species”, “Varner, “Biocentric Individualism,” Devall and Sessions, “Deep Ecology,” Sober, “Philosophical Problems for Environmentalism”, EE ch. 5; Recommended Reading: Simon P. James: “Thing-Centered Holism in Buddhism, Heidegger, and Deep Ecology,” Environmental Ethics 22 (Winter 2000). Emily Brady, “Aesthetic Character and Aesthetic Integrity in Environmental Conservation,” Environmental Ethics 24 (Spring 2002).

6) Sept. 27- 29 Response 6
How Wild Does Nature Have to Be?—How are we to interact with ecosystems? Krieger, “What’s Wrong with Plastic Trees?”, Katz, “The Call of the Wild,” Light, “Ecological Restoration and the Culture of Nature,” EE ch. 6.. Recommended: Clare Palmer: “Taming the Wild Profusion of Existing Things’? A Study of Foucault, Power, and Human/Animal Relationships,” Environmental Ethics 23 (Winter 2001).

7) October 4-6

Ecofeminism in Theory and Practice: Response 7
Hessler and Willott, “Feminism and Ecofeminism,” Warren, “The Power and the Promise of Ecological Feminism,” Sen, “Women, Poverty, and Population,” Rao, “Women Farmers of India’s Deccan Plateau: Ecofeminists Challenge World Elites”, EE ch. 8. Recommended Reading: Vrinda Dalmiya, “Cows and Others: Toward Constructing Ecofeminist Selves,” Environmental Ethics 24 (Summer 2002); Improving Lives.” Mark Twine, “Ma(r)king Essence-Ecofeminism and Embodiment”; Chaone Mallory, “Acts of Objectification and the Repudiation of Dominance: Leopold, Ecofeminism, and the Ecological Narrative,” both in Ethics and the Environment 6.2 (Autumn 2001) online, Project Muse. Mary Jo Deegan and Christopher W. Podeschi, “The Ecofeminist Pragmatism of Charlotte Perkins Gilman” Environmental Ethics 23 (Spring 2001).

8) October 11-13 Response 8

Multicultural Perspectives: Response 5
Film: In Light of Reverence. Cultural conflict between Native and Euro America over the significance and use of the land; see the PBS Website for the film: http://www.pbs.org/pov/inthelightofreverence/thefilm.html. Thompson: “Environment as Cultural Heritage,” Environmental Ethics 22 (fall 2000); Foltz: “Is There an Islamic Environmentalism?” Environmental Ethics 22 (spring 2000); John Mizzoni, “St. Francis, Paul Taylor, and Franciscan Biocentrism,” Environmental Ethics 26 (Spring 2004); Vital Signs, “Conflict and Peace Trends,” pp. 74ff.

9) October 18-20 Environmentalism, Multiculturalism, Religion, Tradition: In Light of Reverence, Continued. Response 9

Bookchin, “Social Ecology vs. Deep Ecology,” EE, pp. 126-136; Midgley revisited, EE, pp. 71-81.
Recommended: A confrontation: McPherson et al., “Indigenous Worlds and Callicott’s Land Ethic.” Environmental Ethics 22 (Fall 2000); Anthony Weston, “Multicentrism: A Manifesto” EnvironmentalEthics 26 (Spring 2004); Bailey, “Approximate Optimality of Aboriginal Property Rights,” EE, ch. 11; Vital Signs, “Economy and Social Features,” pp. 98ff.

10) October 25-27 Response 9

Rethinking the Good Life: Film: Earth on Edge. Hill, “Ideals of Human Excellence and Preserving Natural Environments,” Milbrath, “Redefining the Good Life in a Sustainable Society,” Sagoff, “Do We Consume Too Much?”, Matthews, “Letting the World Grow Old”, EE ch. 7. Recommended: Cassandra Y. Johnson and J. M. Bowker, African-American Wildland Memories,” Environmental Ethics 26 (Spring 2004); Vital Signs, “Transportation Trends,” pp. 56ff.

11) November 1-3 Response 10; Film: After the Warming; Global Warming Update.

Human Population and Environmental Preservation: Feinberg, “Future Generations,” Wolf, “Population, Development, and the Environment,” Guha: “Radical American Environmentalism and Wilderness Preservation: A Third World Critique,” Raymond Bonner, “At the Hand of Man: Peril and Hope for Africa’s Wildlife”, EE chs. 9-10. Recommended Reading: “Environmental Anamnesis: Walter Benjamin and the Ethics of Extinction” (Winter 2001); Vital Signs, “Energy and Climate Trends,” pp. 30ff.

12) November 8-10—Nov. 11 ; Response 11
Sustainable Use, Institutional Structure, and Poverty:
Hardin, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” and “Living in a Lifeboat”; Singer, “Famine, Affluence, and Morality,” Shue, “Global Environment and International Inequality,” Schmidtz, “Natural Enemies: Anatomy of an Environmental Conflict,” EE 11-12. Recommended: Robert Kirkman, “Reasons to Dwell on (if Not Necessarily in) the Suburbs,” Environmental Ethics 26 (Spring 2004); Christopher J. Preston and Steven H. Corey: “Public Health and Environmentalism: Adding Garbage to the History of Environmental Ethics,” Environmental Ethics 27 (spring 2005); Vital Signs, “Economic Trends,” pp. 44ff.

13) November 15-17
Group Presentations

Vanishing Resources, Cost-Benefit Analysis, and Environmental Policy: Response 12

Wolliams, “Designing Cities as if They Were Ethical Choices,” Kelman, “Cost-Benefit Analysis: An Ethical Critique,” Leonard and Zeckhauser, “Cost-Benefit Analysis Defended,” Brennan, “Moral Pluralism and the Environment”, EE, chs. 13-14. Recommended: Daniel White, Modernity/Post-Modern Environmentalism,” The Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change. Volume 4 (in our library). Stephen Vogel, “Environmental Philosophy after the End of Nature,” Environmental Ethics 24 (Spring 2002); Vital Signs, “Health and Social Trends,” pp. 64ff.

14) November 22-24 (Nov. 24, Thanksgiving holiday)

Group Presentations

Environmentalism in Practice: Recommended Reading:

Norton, “The Environmentalists’ Dilemma” and “Fragile Freedoms,” Rawles, “The Missing Shade of Green,” Light, “Taking Environmental Ethics Public.” Bookchin, “Social Ecology versus Deep Ecology,” EE 126-136. Recommended: Eileen Crist, “Against the Social Construction of Nature and Wilderness” Environmental Ethics 26, spring 2004; Vital Signs, “Governance Features,” pp. 106ff.

Ctheory: http://www.ctheory.net/text_file.asp?pick=123.

15) FINAL ESSAY DUE November 29; Group Presentations

Dec. 1 Reading Day: Class meets anyway!

16) December 1-8

Exam Period: TBA, papers returned, grades discussed; presentations during exam period, if

necessary.

[1] Lynn White’s “Historical Roots of the Ecological Crisis” was originally published in the journal Science; it may currently locate under the database JSTOR in FAU’s Electronic Collection. The full citation is Lynn White, Jr., “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis,” Science, New Series, Vol. 155, No. 3767. (Mar. 10, 1967), pp. 1203-1207. Go into the FAU Electronic Collection at www.fau.edu/library ; click on Journals by Title, go to Science; click on the JSTOR (rather than the Ovid) version; search the article in JSTOR by author and (partial) title. Be sure to specify the journal (Science) from the journal list below—you’ll need to click on “advanced list” to find it). When the citation appears click “view article.”