Course Description: This course provides a "study of contemporary environmental philosophy . . . ethical principles and practical issues related to the natural environment" (FAU Catalogue). As part of this inquiry we shall consider key dimensions of environmental philosophy and of the ecological crisis. We shall study contributions of the Western philosophical tradition as well as those of diverse world traditions to the ideas of nature and humanity underlying environmental issues. We shall discuss ecological ideas from an interdisciplinary perspective, including the natural and social sciences as well as the humanities. The function of gender in shaping the ideas of nature and human identity 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 student will be responsible for developing her/his 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 shall pay special attention to the widening range of electronic media relevant to ecological issues. Our study will be historical, thematic, multicultural and multidisciplinary, as the character of environmental thinking requires.

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

Course Requirements and Grades:

1) A series of three informal responses, in essay or dialogue form, written outside of class, each at least 1,000 words in length (for a total of 3000 words): each 15% of the final grade = 45% of final grade

2) Four informal responses, in essay form, written in class, each at least 250 words (totaling 1,000 words): each 5% = 20% of final grade

3) A final essay, written outside of class, of at least 1,500 words: 20 % of final grade

4) A group presentation or project, including a 500 word summary: 15% of final grade.

5) Regular class attendance and participation.

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

PHI 3640

Required Texts:
Aristotle, De Anima
Brown, Lester, State of the World 1998 (or most recent edition, WorldWatch Institute)
Collingwood, R.G., The Idea of Nature
Gruen, Lori and Dale Jamieson, Reflecting on Nature
Oelschlaeger, Max, The Idea of Wilderness: from Prehistory to the Age of Ecology
Schwartz, Sanford, The World of Thought in Ancient China

Weekly Assignments

1) Course introduction: the dimensions of environmental philosophy. Historical reflections on the word "ecology." Toward a multicultural intellectual history of ecological ideas. Perspectives and representations from Italian Renaissance and Sung Dynasty Chinese representations of "nature." The genealogy of ideas implicit in cultural representations. In-class response 1.

2) The classical Greek idea of nature: Collingwood, "Classical Cosmology", Aristotle, De Anima, books 1-3; selections from Aristotle in Gruen. Parmenides, Heraclitus, Plato: the lineage of Aristotle's concept of nature. How is it that Aritotle would write a treatise Peri Psychs (literally On the Psyche or, in Latin De Anima, On the Spirit)which considers the animate qualities of all living things in a great hierarchy stemming from the plants through the animals through human beings and beyond? Isn't the psyche something "in the head"? Or is that only a recent idea? How's all of this relevant to ecological thinking?

3) Aristotle, Plato and medieval to Renaissance representations of nature. Collingwood, "The Renaissance View of Nature." Slides of Gothic and Renaissance painting.

4) Read Schwartz: Confucian and Taoist ideas of nature and social order/disorder. The concepts of li, te, ch'i and tao in Confucian, Taoist and Chan Buddhist thought; how these concepts lead to the distinctive idea of nature reflected in Sung Landscape painting-slides. Consideration of George Rowley's Principles of Chinese Painting (handout). Is the "nature" represented in Chinese art the same as that represented in European art? How was a unified idea of nature constructed? In-class response 2.

5) Toward a history of ecological ideas. Oelschlaeger, Chapter 1, "The Idea of Wilderness: From Paleolithic to Neolithic Culture," Chapter 2, "Ancient Mediterranean Ideas of Humankind and Nature"; from Genesis in Gruen. Out-of-class response 1 Due.

6)  The modern European idea of Nature: Oelschlaeger, Chapter 3, "The Alchemy of Modernism: The transmutation of Wilderness into Nature"; Collingwood, "The Modern View of Nature"; excerpts from Locke, Mill, and Darwin in Gruen.

7)  Oelschlaeger, "Wild Nature: Critical Responses to Modernism"; Romanticism, Wordsworth, Mary Shelley; "Images of Nature," readings by Callicott and Rolston, in Gruen. In-class response 3.

8)  Oelschlaeger, "Henry David Thoreau: Philosopher of Wilderness," "John Muir"; Toward an Environmental Ethic: Oelschlaeger, "Aldo Leopold and the Age of Ecology"; Gruen, Chapter 2, "Ethics and the Environment"; Out-of-class response 2 due.

9)  Brown, Chapter 1, "The Future of Growth"; 2, "Sustaining the World's Forests." Oelschlaeger, Chapter 8, "The Idea of Wilderness in the Poetry of Robinson Jeffers and Gary Snyder." Presentations.

10)  Oelschlaeger, Chapter 9, "Contemporary Wilderness Philosophy: From Resourcism to Deep Ecology"; Reading by Devall in Gruen; Film: Spirit and Nature with Bill Moyers. Presentations. In-class response 3.

11)  Values and resources, individuals and societies: Gruen, "Sustainable Development and International Justice," readings by Bookchin and Bullard in Gruen; Presentations.

12)  Life on a small planet: "Population and Consumption," in Gruen, readings by Erlich, Lappe and Schurman. Brown, Chapter 3, "Losing Strands in the Web of Life." Presentations. Out-of-class response 3 due.

13)  Gender and environmental philosophy: Plumwood, "Nature, Self and Gender," in Gruen; Ecofeminism. Brown, Chapter 10, "Building a New Econonmy." Presentations.

14)  Toward New Paradigms: Dryzek, "Green Reason: Communicative Ethics for the Biosphere"; Oelschlaeger, Chapter 10, "Cosmos and Wilderness: A Postmodern Wilderness Philosophy." A visit to the WordWatch Web site. Presentations. In-class response 4.

15)  Final Essays Due; presentations.