PUAF 742: Environmental Ethics

Fall2014, Mondays 7:00pm-9:30pm | University of Maryland School of Public Policy

Instructor: Thomas C.Hilde

Office: VMH 3141

Office hours: Mondays & Tuesdays 4:30-6:30 or by appointment

Phone: MSPP main office or personal cell phone: 202-321-7384

E-mail:

Required Texts

  • Bryan Norton. Sustainability. University of Chicago, 2005.
  • Light & Rolston III, eds. Environmental Ethics. Blackwell, 2003.
  • Anne Ross, et al. Indigenous Peoples and the Collaborative Stewardship of Nature. Left Coast, 2011.
  • Handouts

Course Summary

Environmental ethics as a field of inquiry has grown exponentially over the past three decades. It has helped to broaden the discussion of value beyond economic or scientific assessments of natural environments. Environmental policy disputes are usually about deeper philosophical differences than simply clashes of economic self-interest. Good science and economic analysis are essential components to policy, but they do not necessarily ascertain what we ought to do for policy decisions, but rather how effectively to do it. Environmental ethics articulates, examines, and attempts to answer the value questions involved in environmental policy issues. Yet, the practical considerations of policy in turn present constraints on ethical arguments. Our inquiry will tack between these considerations of ethical norms and practical expediency. The goal is to think through ethical issues in light of concrete policy and vice versa so that ethics might make a difference in practice.

This course will examine a range of ethical-philosophical arguments and positions that constitute environmental ethics. The readings include classics of environmental thought and recent work. Issues include the nature of ethical inquiry regarding the natural environment, what counts in moral consideration (non-human animals? ecosystems? or humans alone?), basic differences regarding the concept of value and practical sustainability, and how human interests and environmental justice issues are or should intersect with environmental values. We shall link these discussions to matters of public policy while critiquing policy as practiced.

Class meetings are informal, minimizing lecture and maximizing discussion.

Course Requirements

  • 50%:Participation is built into the course grade in two ways:
  • a) Weekly analytical writing questions (one page, typed) over the texts assigned for that day. Only the assignments from those who are in class that day will be accepted. I will collect these assignments, without advance notice, seven times during the semester, taking the five best marks for inclusion in the final grade. It’s best to make these a weekly habit.
  • b)Participation in class discussions.
  • 50%: 20-25-page term paper. Papers may be theoretical or applied, but should focus on an ethical problem or bundle of problems. An abstract/proposal of your paper topicmust be approved ahead of time.I recommend discussing your topic with me prior to producing the formal abstract. Feel free to contact mefor help at any time while working on your papers.

Schedule of Readings/Discussions

September 8: Introduction

  • Handout: Shellenberger & Nordhaus, “The Death of Environmentalism”
  • Light & Rolston: read Palmer chapter

September 15: Ethics and the Environment

  • Light & Rolston: read Leopold, Sylvan

September 22:Which Entities Merit Moral Consideration?

  • Light & Rolston: Singer; Regan; Cahen
  • Handouts

September 29:Intrinsic and Instrumental Value

  • Light & Rolston: O’Neill; Rolston; Lee

October 6:Deep Ecology, Ecofeminism, Pragmatism

  • Light & Rolston: Naess; Gaard & Gruen; Weston

October 13:Environmental Justice

  • Light & Rolston: Attfield, Hartley
  • Handout: TBA

October 20: Sustainability and Adaptive Management I

  • Norton: skim A.4 and A.5 in Appendix; skim Preface and chapter 1; read chapters 2, 3

October 27: Sustainability and Adaptive Management II

  • Norton: chapters 4-7

November 3: Sustainability and Adaptive Management III

  • Norton: chapters 8-11
  • Handout

November 10:Indigenous Peoples & Collaborative Management I

  • Ross: chapters 1-3
  • Handout on indigenous resource management systems

November 17:Indigenous Peoples & Collaborative Management II

  • Ross: chapters 4-7

November 24: The Ethics of Climate Change I: Distribution of Obligations

  • Handout: Moellendorf, “Treaty Norms and Climate Change Mitigation”
  • Handout: TBA

December 1:The Ethics of Climate Change II: Geoengineering

  • Handout: Hamilton, “Ethical Foundations of Climate Engineering”
  • Handout: NKGCF, “The Debate on Geoengineering”

December 8:Conclusion: Environmental Ethics & Uncertainty

  • Handout: TBA
  • Term paper due