Environmental Ethics

PHIL 21a, Fall 2016

Monday and Wednesday, 2:00-3:20

Instructor: Ben Sherman

Office: Rabb Graduate Center rm. 306

Email:

Office Hours: TBD

Course Description

This course offers an introduction to ethical theory and ethical reasoning as they relate to environmental issues in particular. Said introduction will be divided into two main parts. The first part of the course will give a brief overview of the basic concepts used in philosophical ethics, and then examine the special theoretical questions raised by environmental concerns, such as questions about what natural objects or systems are intrinsically valuable, what rights non-human living things can have, what duties human beings have with regard to the environment, how to balance human interests against non-human interests, and how we can tell what is better for the environment as such. The second part of the course will discuss questions raised in the application of ethical principles to decision making, including questions about how to prioritize conflicting concerns, what changes are worth making, and what individuals morally ought to do.

Four-Credit Course (with three hours of class-time per week)

Success in this 4 credit hour course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, papers, discussion sections, preparation for exams, etc.).

Learning Goals

• Acquiring a familiarity with some of the most influential positions, debates, and lines of inquiry in discussions of environmental ethics

• Developing the skills involved in good ethical thinking: analysis of problems and questions, judicious interpretation, careful argumentation, and awareness of context and nuance

• Refining a tentative ethical position on environmental matters, including views about what should be done, what should be studied further, and what sorts of considerations might be relevant to these position

Laptop Policy

No laptops, please, as they are apt to distract from class discussions.

Academic Integrity

All material submitted for a grade should be the student’s own original, independent work. All uses of others’ work should be properly documented through notes and citations. Unauthorized collaboration, plagiarism, and any other violation of University policies on academic integrity will result in disciplinary action, which can include grading penalties, suspension, or dismissal. If you have questions about what constitutes academic dishonesty, please consult the Rights and Responsibilities Handbook, contact the Office of Student Development and Conduct, or ask the instructor. More information can be found at http://www.brandeis.edu/studentaffairs/srcs/index.html.

Disability

Please let me know as soon as possible if you have a documented disability on record at Brandeis. I will be glad to make the appropriate arrangements.

Readings

All students are required to have access to the readings from Environmental Ethics: What Really Matters, What Really Works, ed. Schmidtz and Willott, 2nd edition. All other required readings will be made available online.

Requirements

All students will be required to engage with the ethical questions presented in class, through careful consideration of the texts assigned, demonstrated in written work to be done at home and on exams in class. Work will be evaluated both on the basis of whether it shows knowledge of course materials, and whether it demonstrates the student’s ability to engage in original analysis and argumentation.

Late Work: Assignments are to be turned in by the beginning of class the day they are due. Late work will be penalized a mark for each day past the deadline (e.g., homework up to one day late will fall from check to check-minus.)

Independent Work: All written work must be original independent work. There will be no collaboration on homework assignments or exams, though collaboration in small-group discussion will be taken into account in the class participation grade.

Attendance: For each unexcused absence after the fourth, a student’s grade will be lowered by a third of a letter grade (e.g. B- to C+). Attendance records will be taken at the beginning of class most days. A fair amount of important material will be presented only in lectures, and class discussions will be an important opportunity for students to hone their skills at reasoning, argument, and articulating positions.

Grading Schema:

Preliminary exam, 5%

4-6 page paper, 20%

Midterm exam, 25%

Final 7-10 page paper, 35%

Homework assignments, 10%

Class participation, 5%

Class Schedule

(“EE #” indicates Schmidtz and Willott’s Environmental Ethics anthology, and the page on which the reading begins. Readings marked “Latte” will be available on the class website.) Any changes will be announced in class in advance.

Monday, 8/29: Introduction, basic ideas of ethics and the environment

Part I: Theories of Environmental Values and Morals

Wednesday 8/31: Religion and the Enlightenment Tradition

The Rig-Veda X, xc: “The Sacrifice of Primal Man” (Latte)

The Atharva-Veda XI, iv: “The Breath of Life” (Latte)

Genesis 1-3 (Latte)

Kant, excerpt from Grounding of the Metaphysics of Morals (Latte)

Kant, excerpt from Lectures on Ethics (Latte)

Note: No class Monday 9/5

Weds 9/7 1/21: The Problem of “Nature” and “The Wild”

Mill—On Nature excerpts (Latte)

Pitcher and Welchman—Can Environmental Paradise Be Regained? EE 258

Thurs 9/8 Note: Brandeis Monday

Early Environmentalism

Muir—Hetch Hetchy Valley EE 230

Leopold—The Land Ethic EE 124

Mon 9/12: Preliminary Exam

Deep Ecology

Naess—The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement EE 129

Animal Liberation and Environmentalism

Weds 9/14: Singer—All Animals Are Equal EE 49

Mon 9/19: Stone—Should Trees Have Standing? EE 85

Sagoff—Animal Liberation and Environmental Ethics EE 59

Whyte—The Elephant Management Dilemma EE 71

Weds 9/21: Sober—Philosophical Problems for Environmentalism EE 132

Mon 9/26: Biocentric Individualism

Taylor—The Ethics of Respect for Nature EE 102

Schmidtz—Are All Species Equal? EE 114

Weds 9/28: Ecofeminism

Merchant—Feminism and the Philosophy of Nature (Latte)

Optional: Warren—The Power and the Promise of Ecological Feminism EE 157

The Problem of Environmental Justice

Note: No class Monday 10/3

Weds 10/5: Guha—Radical American Environmentalism and Wilderness Preservation EE 145

Shrader-Frechette—Environmental Justice EE 204

4-6 Page Paper Due

Mon 10/10: Shiva—Water Wars EE 217

Sagoff—Do We Consume Too Much? EE 302

Note: No class Weds 10/12

Note: No class Monday 10/17

Weds 10/19: Finding a Place in Nature?

Schmidtz—Natural Enemies EE 220

Matthews—Letting the World Grow Old EE 271

Note: No class Monday 10/24

Weds 10/26: Mid-term Exam

Part II: Ethical Responses to Environmental Problems

Note: From here on, the schedule is tentative. Other readings and topics might be selected, on the basis of student suggestions and surveys.

Topic 1: Resource Use

Mon 10/31: Hardin—The Tragedy of the Commons EE 403

Schmidtz—The Institution of Property EE 406

Suggested Reading: Rose—Liberty, Property, Environmentalism EE 420

Topic 2: Economic Development and the Environment

Weds 11/2: Sagoff—At the Shrine of Our Lady Fàtima, or Why Political Questions Are Not All Economic (Latte)

Mon 11/7: Cobb—Towards a Just and Sustainable Economic Order (Latte)

Schweickart—Is Sustainable Capitalism an Oxymoron? (Latte)

Topic 3: Climate Change

Weds 11/9: Jamieson—Ethics, Public Policy, and Global Warming EE 538

Gardiner—A Perfect Moral Storm EE 547

Mon 11/14: Posner and Sunstein—Climate Change Justice (Latte)

Topic 4: Genetically Modified Foods

Weds 11/16: Comstock—Ethics and Genetically Modified Foods EE 598

Gambrel—Virtue Theory and Genetically Modified Crops EE 622

Topic 5: Overpopulation

Mon 11/21: Hardin—Living on a Lifeboat EE 493

Suggested Reading: Singer—Affluence, Famine, and Morality EE 486

Rollston—Feeding People Versus Saving Nature EE 504

Note: No class Weds 11/23

Mon 11/28: Willott—Recent Population Trends EE 526

Suggested Reading: Sen—Women, Poverty, and Population EE 187

Shue—Global Environment and International Inequality EE 516

Topic 6: How can people learn to be green?

Weds 11/30: Hungerford and Volk—Changing Learner Behavior through Environmental Education

Final Paper Proposals Due

Mon 12/5: Goldman—Experts: Which Ones Should You Trust?

Suggested Reading: Fumento, “Environmental Hysteria” publicly available online: http://fumento.com/alar/ibdalar.html

Monibot, “The Denial Industry” (Latte)

Topic 7: Organic Food

Weds 12/7: Singer and Mason—“Going Organic” from The Ethics of What We Eat (Latte)

Recommended Reading: Pollan—excerpt from “Big Organic” in The Omnivore’s Dilemma (Latte)

Final paper due date TBD