Environmental
Ethics
A Leadership Studies Designated Course
PL307, spring 2008
Dr. Bill Myers Office: HC 222
Office phone: 226-4868 Email: bmyers@bsc.edu
Classroom: HC 004
Office Hours: M 12:30-3:30; TWTH 12:30-2:00; F 1-2:30
Home Page: http://csunx4.bsc.edu/bmyers/
Required Texts:
Environmental Ethics: An
Introduction to Environmental Philosophy, 4th edition, by Joseph
R. Des Jardins.
Watersheds 4: Ten Cases in Environmental
Ethics, by Lisa Newton, Catherine Dillingham, and Joanne Choly.
The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan, Penguin Books, 2006.
Desert Solitaire, by Edward Abbey. Touchstone Books, 1968.
Readings linked to the syllabus web page: http://csunx4.bsc.edu/bmyers/enviro.htm
Course Description:
While it is
certainly true that thinkers and writers have been concerned with some kinds of
environmental issues since at least biblical times, environmental ethics as a
discipline is really quite young. Many in the field point to Rachel Carson’s
1962 Silent Spring as marking the
beginning of modern environmental ethics. Prior to
This course is a Leadership Studies designated course, and it fulfills the ethics requirement for Urban Environmental major and the Environmental Studies minor. It also fulfills the Religion/Philosophy requirement for general education.
Methods and
Structure:
Our classes will be a blend of lecture, discussion, case studies and class presentations. As a community of inquiry, we'll be learning from each other. As such, it is imperative that for each meeting, you read carefully the materials for that day. This kind of course only works well when all are prepared.
Assignments:
1. Through the course of the semester, you will be required to do two short papers, one on one of the cases from Watersheds and the other on our last book which we will decide upon very soon. These papers should be 4-6 standard pages (12 point with reasonable margins), word-processed and double spaced. These papers will be presented in class on the day they are due. You may simply read the paper should you choose, but a more informal presentation is also acceptable. The point of the presentation is to encourage and provoke class discussion. Don't be afraid to take a stand. Also, if you are new to writing philosophy papers, check out my handout, complete with tips, guidelines, etc.
2. For our unit on the theories of environmental ethics, each of you will sign up to write a response to one of the discussion questions at the end of the chapter (I will choose the questions). Since we have five theories, three of you will respond to each. These questions will serve as a focus for at least part of the class discussion. These should be about two pages long.
3. One of our treats this semester is reading Edward Abbey. His book, Desert Solitaire, is a classic. We're not going to "study" Abbey in the same way we do the other texts, but, rather, we're going to set aside some class time (30 minutes or so) every other week to discuss it. The discussion days are noted on the syllabus along with the reading assignment. I want you to turn in a one page "reaction" to some aspect of the reading. These are informal, and will serve simply to get us going.
4. A final, individual paper of about 8-12 pages will be required. For this paper, there is a great deal of latitude in regard to the subject matter. The issues(s) you address, though, must deal with some ethical question concerning the environment. While you need not limit yourselves to topics actually covered in class, you must demonstrate a command of the relevant tools of analysis derived from the class. Your topics may well come from one of the two following varieties (these are not exhaustive):
(a) A case of your own choosing, from your own experience, research, etc. If you choose this option, you should give enough details of the situation to make the case meaningful to an outsider. Then you analyze the case as we have been doing all semester, making certain that you bring the relevant theoretical considerations to bear.
(b) An issue which arises in the readings and/or discussion which you would like to explore without the apparatus of a case analysis. You might wish to explore, for example, the more abstract topics of economic justice, the nature of moral standing, our duty to trees or animals, our duty to future generations, etc.
The final paper will be due at our scheduled final exam time (Wed., Dec. 10).
5. Your attendance and informed participation is assumed. You are expected to have read carefully the materials for the week. I will have no hesitancy in calling on anyone, whether a hand is raised or not. Each student is expected to attend all of the class meetings and to be an active participant in those meetings. If you are not able to attend class or you are not able to be prepared, you should let me know. To encourage preparation, I will give each of you two (2) "unprepareds." If you come to class unprepared, you should let me know, and I will not call on you that day. You may do this twice without penalty. If you do not tell me that you are unprepared, I will assume that I can call on you at any time. As for attendance, more than 4 absences will carry a letter grade penalty for the final grade. More than 6 will result in failing the class.
6. Check the web syllabus frequently. I'll be putting up course handouts and web links throughout the course of the semester. A number of our readings will come from web links and will not be handed out in class. You are just as responsible for that stuff as you are for what is printed on the original course syllabus.
7. And, of course, abide by the Honor Code. Blatant violations of the Honor Code will result in class failure.
Distinction in Leadership Studies:
This course fulfills a requirement for the Distinction in Leadership Studies Program. Given that effective leaders are not always ethical leaders, the study of ethics in general is essential for understanding ethical leadership. Furthermore, the issues we discuss involving the environment are a natural fit for applying and exploring the concept of leadership.
If you are taking this course to meet a requirement for the Leadership Program, then some of your writing must deal with the issues from a leadership perspective, including some utilization of the theories covered in LS 200. You will have numerous opportunities to explore these issues, ranging from Abbey's "monkey-wrenching" techniques to the leaders involved in our case studies to the activism analyzed in our readings, etc.
Grading:
The two short presentation papers will each count for 20% of the final grade, for a total of 40%. The final paper will count for 40%. Class attendance and participation (including your writing on the theories and on Abbey) will count for 20%.
Tentative Course Schedule
Background:
8/28 Introduction, syllabus and questions.
9/2 Ethics, Science and the Environment; Ethical Theory.
9/4 Continued, then Property and Natural Law
Reading: Locke Handout, Harvey Cox, "The Market as God", and Abbey discussion (pp. 1-38)
Applied Issues and Cases:
9/9 Ethics and Economics: Managing Public Lands.
Reading: Des Jardins, 45-69; also see “A Crossroads for Wilderness”; also, check out the PBS piece on Mercury in Fish.
9/11 The Valdez; Chlorine Sunrise
Reading: Watersheds, Chs. 5 and 7; also see “Fear and Fallout in Los Alamos”
9/16 Responsibilities to Future Generations: Sustainable Development
9/18 The Population Problem
Reading: Watersheds, Ch 8; also see “The Population Surprise” (online; username and password: bmyers: environs); Abbey discussion (pp. 39-81)
9/23 Global Climate Change; Alternative Energies
Reading: Watersheds, Chs 1 and 9; also see “The Future of Energy: A Special Report” from Mother Jones. See also “As the World Burns.”
9/25 Conserving for Future Generations—the death of the fisheries
Reading: Watersheds, Ch 3. See also “Aquaculture's Troubled Harvest”; The Last Days of the Ocean; and Abbey discussion (pp. 82-127)
9/30 Responsibilities to the Natural World: From Anthropocentric to Nonanthropocentric Ethics.
10/2 The Great Apes; Biological Diversity
Reading: Watersheds, Chapters 6 and 10; Abbey discussion (128-150)
10/7 Frankenfood; Antibiotic Resistance
Reading: Watersheds, Chapters 2 and 4
Theories of Environmental Ethics:
10/9 Biocentric Ethics and the Inherent Value of Life
10/14 Wilderness, Ecology, and Ethics; and The Land Ethic
10/21 Deep Ecology
10/23 Environmental Justice and Social Ecology
Reading: Des Jardins, Chapter 10 (Questions: 2 or 6) and Abbey discussion (151-195)
10/28 Ecofeminism; and Pluralism, Pragmatism, and Sustainability
The Omnivore’s Dilemma:
10/30 Pollan,
Introduction through Chapter 2
11/4 Pollan,
Chapters 3-5
11/6 Pollan,
Chapters 6-7 and Abbey discussion (196-231)
11/11 Pollan,
Chapters 8-9
11/13 Pollan,
Chapters 10-12
11/18 Pollan,
Chapters 13-14
11/20 Pollan,
Chapters 15-16 and Abbey discussion (232-end)
11/25 Pollan, Chapters
17-18
12/2 Pollan,
Chapters 19-20
Final Paper due, Wednesday, December 10 by 1:00.