PHI 3682: Honors Environmental Philosophy

Daniel White

Email: dwhite@fau.edu; see my Web page for office hours and other syllabi: http://wise.fau.edu/~dwhite.

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

Office Hours, Spring 2011: T & R 11:30-12:30; 2:00-3:00, W 2-4, or by appointment

Course Description: PHI 3682 course provides a study of contemporary environmental philosophy, emphasizing ethical issues related to the natural environment. The course focuses the history of ideas regarding nature, on the relevance of traditional ethical standpoints to environmental issues, and on 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 those from 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 an important theme. 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 person will participate in and lead 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 fulfills Environmental Studies requirement in the HC Core Curriculum and counts toward the Environmental Studies Concentration; it also fulfills the WAC writing requirement. Students interested in further study of the ethical foundations of environmental philosophy might consider taking PHI 3670: Honors Ethical Theory.

Course Requirements and Grades:

1) Final essay written outside of class, at least 1,500 words in length: 20% of the final grade.

2) A series of responses (500 words apiece, written in and out of class), in essay form (totaling a minimum of 4000 words); = altogether 50% of final grade.

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

4) Class Participation: 10% of final grade.
a) One or more individual presentation(s) in which you lead class discussion regarding one of our assigned readings; handout with summary of key points required;

b) Regular class attendance and participation.
6) Essays and dialogues written outside of class will be graded for composition and content; in-class essays will be graded holistically for composition and content.

7) Numerical and Letter Grades: these values apply to all assignments listed in 1-6 above; your final grade for the semester will be determined by the same criteria.

Students enrolled in this course agree to abide by th/e Honors College Honor Code. Please review this important document: http://www.fau.edu/divdept/honcol/academics_honor_code.htm.

Required Texts and Sources:

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

2) WorldWatch, State of the World 2010: Transforming Cultures (abbreviated WW)

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

4) Readings on Library Reserve (as needed)

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 $36.00): http://www.cep.unt.edu/, or access them both in paper and electronically at Philosophy Documentation Center Collection in our library.

7) Ethics and the Environment in our library’s Project MUSE - Premium Collection.

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: Goddess of the Earth: The Gaia Hypothesis

f) Al Gore An inconvenient truth

h) Frontline: Hot Politics

Links for Further Reflection: please see online syllabus for updates.
From Snowstorms to Heat Waves, How Global Warming Causes Extreme Weather and Climate Instability

Climate change warning at UN Cancun summit BBC News 12/08/2010

Union of Concerned Scientists Periodic Table of Scientific Abuses

Living on Earth Public Radio Environmental Journalism

Wangari Maathai: A Watering Can, Some Seedlings, and the Greening of a Nation / Ingrid Lobet

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

Holistic Darwinism by Peter A Corning

Enemy of the Planet - New York Times

Ecological Footprints of China, India, Japan, Europe, and US

Dolphin Defender

Arundhati Roy on Politics and Environment

United States Supreme Court Ruling on Wetlands 2006

"Earth Faces 'Catastrophic Loss of Species'"

Climate change and global justice: a letter to Al Gore by Camilla Toulmin - openDemocracy

Europe's Underwater Chemical Dump--Der Spiegel

President Bush's UN speech: Full text

Chavez Calls Bush 'Devil,' Assails U.S. Policies

Noam Chomsky Interview: Hegemony or Survival

Global Warming Update: Siberia is Melting

The Politics of Climate Change

Environmentalists Reconsider Nuclear Energy

Wars Hamper Social Progress Across Africa

Forsaken Mermaids: the Manatees from Living on Earth

BBC: Climate Costs, the Global Picture

Climate Scientists say its time for Plan B

The dead sea: Global warming blamed for 40 per cent decline in the ocean's phytoplankton

Global phytoplankton decline over the past century (Daniel G. Boyce, Nature 466, 591-596 [29 July 2010])

Video: The Darfur Crisis

Exposed: The long, cruel road to the slaughterhouse

Nobel Economist Joseph Stiglitz: Assault on Social Spending, Pro-Rich Tax Cuts Turning U.S. into Nation "Of the 1 Percent, by the 1 Percent, for the 1 Percent"

Syllabus of Assignments

Week T & R

1) Jan. 11-13

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. Film and discussion: Waters of Destiny (on the Kissimmee River Project); WW, “Adapting Institutions,” pp. 85-90.
Reading Presentations: Manussos Marangudakis: “The Medieval Roots of Our Environmental Crisis,” Environmental Ethics 23 (Fall 2001).

2) Jan. 18-20

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; EE ch. 3, Extending the Realm of Rights; “Stone, “Should Trees Have Standing?” WW: “Ritual and Taboo as Ecological Guardians,” pp. 30-35; Film Butterfly Reading Presentations: Feinberg, “The Rights of Animals,” Attfield, “The Good of Trees,” Midgley, “Duties Concerning Islands,” EE ch. 3; Elisa Altola, “Personhood & Animals,” Environmental

Ethics vol. 30, no. 2 (Summer 2008).

3) Jan. 25-27
Response on Butterfly due. Species Equality, Respect for Nature and Consumer Society: “Taylor, “The Ethics of Respect for Nature,” Schmidtz, “Are all Species Equal?” EE, ch. 4; WW, “Rethinking School Food,” pp. 69-74.
Reading Presentations: Kimberly K. Smith, “Animals & the Social Contract,” Environmental Ethics vol. 30, no. 2 (Summer 2008); “Nietzsche's Environmental Philosophy: A Trans-European Perspective” Environmental Ethics 27 (Spring 2005).

3) Feb. 1-3

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; WW, “Ecovillages,” pp. 185-190; Reading Presentations: Emily Brady, “Aesthetic Character and Aesthetic Integrity in Environmental Conservation,” Environmental Ethics 24 (Spring 2002); Dana Anderson, “Ethical Sight,” Environmentalism 29, no. 2 (Summer 2007): NPR Special Report: Global Warming Is Irreversible.

4) Feb. 8-10
Response on the Gaia Hypothesis due. 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. Reading Presentations: J. Baird Callicott, “What ‘Wilderness’ in Frontier Ecosystems?” Environmental Ethics, vol. 30, no. 3 (Fall 2008); Robert Froderman, “Philosophy Unbound,” Environmental Ethics, vol. 30, no. 3 (Fall 2008).

6) Feb. 15-17

Ecofeminism in Theory and Practice:
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; WW, “Environmentally Sustainable Childbearing,” pp. 36-40; Reading Presentations: Vrinda Dalmiya, “Cows and Others: Toward Constructing Ecofeminist Selves,” Environmental Ethics vol. 24 no. 2 (Summer 2002); Elizabeth Skakoon, “Nature and Human Identity,” Environmental Ethics vol. 30, no. 1 (Spring 2008); Annie L. Booth, “Beyond Mothering Earth” (Book Review), Environmental Ethics vol. 30, no. 1 (Spring 2008). Response on Ecofeminism in class.

7) Feb. 22-24

Multicultural Perspectives: Film: In Light of Reverence: Cultural conflict between Native and Euro America over the significance and use of the land: WW, “Engaging Religions Traditions,” pp. 23-29.
Thompson: “Environment as Cultural Heritage,” Environmental Ethics 22 (Fall 2000); Reading Presentations: Foltz: “Is There an Islamic Environmentalism?” Environmental Ethics 22 (Spring 2000) Eugene C. Hargrove, “A Traditional and Multicultural Approach to Environmental Ethics at Primary and Secondary School Levels,” Environmental Ethics vol. 30, no 3 (Fall 2008).

8) March 1-3
Environmentalism, Multiculturalism, & Education. Bookchin, “Social Ecology vs. Deep Ecology,” EE, pp. 126-136; Lloyd Steffen, “What Religion Contributes to Environmental Ethics,” Environmental Ethics 29, no. 2 (Summer 2007); WW, “What is Higher Education for Now?” pp. 75-82; “Earth Jurisprudence,” pp. 143-148; Response on In Light of Reverence due Tuesday.
Reading Presentations: So-Young Lee, “Korean Environmental Thought and Practice: A Case Study of the Indramang Community,” Environmental Ethics vol. 30, no. 2 (Summer 2008); Sung-Hae Kim, “The Immortal World: The Telos of Daoist Environmental Ethics,” Environmental Ethics vol. 30, no. 2 (Summer 2008).

Spring Break, March 7-13 Spring Break

9) March 15-17

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. Reading Presentations: Cassandra Y. Johnson and J. M. Bowker, “African-American Wildland Memories,” Environmental Ethics 26 (Spring 2004); Sudhir Chella Rajan, “Automobility, Liberalism, and the Ethics of Driving,” Environmental Ethics 29, no. 1 (Spring 2007); J. M. Dieterie, “Unnecessary Suffering” Environmental Ethics vol. 30, no. 1 (Summmer 2008).

10) March 22-24
Response on Earth on Edge due. Global Warming Update. Rainforest Treaty Fatally Flawed (Copenhagen 2009) Film: Al Gore: An Inconvenient Truth; also see James Burke: After the Warming. 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,” EE chs. 9-10. WW, “Media Literacy, Citizenship, and Sustainability,” pp. 157-163; Reading Presentations: Mark Michael, “Ramachandra Guha: How Much Should a Person Consume?” Environmental Ethics vo. 30, no. 1 (Spring 2008); Sergio Guevara and Javier Laborde, “The Landscape Approach: Designing New Reserves for Protection of Biological and Cultural Diversity in Latin America”; Environmental Ethics vol. 30, no. 2 (Fall 2008); Christopher Be Anderson et al., “Integrating Science & Society through Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research,” Environmental Ethics vol. 30, no. 2 (Fall 2008).

11) March 29-31
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; WW, “Changing Business Cultures from Within,” pp. 96-102; “Social Entrepreneurs”; Reading Presentations: Christopher J. Preston and Steven H. Corey: “Public Health and Environmentalism: Adding Garbage to the History of Environmental Ethics,” Environmental Ethics 27 (spring 2005); WW, “Relocalizing Business,” pp. 110-116; “Reinventing Health Care,” pp. 138-142.

12) April 5-7

Response on An Inconvenient Truth due. Vanishing Resources, Cost-Benefit Analysis, and Environmental Policy: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment; Woolliams, “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; WW 12 “Development from the Ground Up”: NOW; Learn about one town's plan to make all of its buildings energy-efficient: Save Energy, Save Money, Save the Planet. WW, “Building Cities of the Future,” pp. 133-137.

Reading Presentations: Volume 4 (in our library). Stephen Vogel, “Environmental Philosophy after the End of Nature,” Environmental Ethics 24 (Spring 2002).

13) April 12-14

Group Presentations:

Environmentalism in Practice: 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; . WW, “Music,” pp. 164-170. Reading Presentations: Eileen Crist, “Against the Social Construction of Nature and Wilderness” Environmental Ethics 26, spring 2004; Richard J. Evanoff, “Communicative Ethics and Moral Considerability,” Environmental Ethics 29, no. 3 (Fall 2007). Video: NOW on PBS: "Paradise Lost Revisited"

14) April 19-21

Group Presentations

15) April 26 Last Day of Class

April 28^th to May 4^th Exam Week: Group Presentations & Discussion:

FINAL ESSAY DUE Tuesday, May 4th by Final Exam Period: 4:00 PM

[1] Lynn White’s “Historical Roots of the Ecological Crisis” was originally published in the journal Science; it may be located 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.”