INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS L30 235F Fall 2009

Basic Information!

Instructor:Teaching Assistant:Offices:Office Hours:

E-mails:

Class times:Required book:

Readings on Telesis:

Handouts:

Clare PalmerDavid BaumanClare Palmer: Wilson 108. David Bauman: Wilson 116.Clare Palmer: Tuesday 4 - 5.30pm, and other times by appointmentDavid Bauman: Thursday 9.00-10.00am, or by appointment.Clare Palmer: CDalmer@artsci.wustl.eduDavid Bauman: dcbauman @ artsci .wusti.edu2.30 - 4.00 Tuesday/Thursday in Eads 203Environmental Ethics: Reading in Theory and Application, 5' EditionEdited by Louis Pojman and Paul Pojman. Thompson, 2008.Most of the readings are from this book; all others will be on Telesis.To read articles on Telesis: Go to the course Telesis page, and click on"Topics." The relevant readings, with dates, can be accessed there.Owing to current economic (and environmental!) constraints, I won't beproviding printed handouts in class, except when there are fairly lengthycase-studies to discuss. However, I'll put handouts or slides online afterthe class. These won't cover all the material from class, and don'tsubstitute for attending!

Weekly Schedule for the Course

WeeklAug. 27th: Introduction to the course. No reading required.

Week 2:Sept. 1st:Sept. 3rd:

Articulating Values Exercise. No reading required.Some Key Ideas, and a Very Short Introduction to Ethical Theories!A very short reading too: p.4-7 of Pojman & Pojman.

Week 3:Sept. 8th:

Sept. 10th:

It's All about Us! - or is it? Anthropocentrism and StewardshipReadings: "Perspectives" (10-11) Lynn White Jr. (14-21)What (if anything) should we do for future people?Reading: Julian Simon "Can the supply of natural resources really be infinite"tYes!" on Telesis.

Week 4:Sept. 15th:Sept. 17th:

Week 5:Sept. 22nd:Sept. 24th:

Introducing Animal Ethics: Theoretical ApproachesReadings (for 17th): Singer (73-82) Regan (82-89)

Animal Ethics in Practice: Zoos and ResearchReadings (for 24th): Carl Cohen at

n B H a a H i S i B l a S I B B i I i E I l j M E E a aDale Jamieson (97-103)

Week 7:Oct. 6th:Oct. 8th:

Respect for Life? First coursework hand in.Readings (for 1st) Kenneth Goodpaster (154-163); Paul Taylor (139-154).Note: These are long and difficult (but classic) readings... do your best!

Respect for Land/Respect for Earth?Readings (for 8th): 'The Land Ethic" (163-172) and James Lovelock's Lecture tothe Royal Society http://www.iameslovelock.org/page24.html and on Telesis.Lovelock's "Reflections on Gaia" is also available on Telesis: you might want toread this as well.

Week 8:Oct. 13th:Oct. 15th:

Catch up and review classFirst class test

Week 9:Oct. 20th:Oct 22nd:

Should we care about species extinctions?Readings (for 22nd) Lily Marlene Russow "Why do Species Matter?" (269-276);Holmes Rolston, "Duties to Endangered Species" Bioscience 35/11(1985),pp. 718-726, available on Telesis.

Week 10:Oct. 27th:

Oct.29th:

Is hunting sometimes, always, or never morally permissible? Readings (for 27th):J. Baird Callicott "Animal Liberation: A Triangular Affair." Roger Scruton "Fox-Hunting: The Modern Case." Both on Telesis.DVD: Varmints!

Week 11:Nov. 3rd:Nov. 5th:

Can and should we restore nature?Readings (for 5th): Robert Elliot: (290-297) and Andrew Lighthttp://www.crrc.unh.edu/human dimensions/reading materials/light restoration

Week 12:Nov. 10th: Ethics and Climate Change (1) Reading (for 10th): Pew Center (568-569) and

Steve Gardiner "Ethics and Global Climate Change" (573-597)

Nov. 12th: Ethics and Climate Change (2) Reading for Applied Ethical Issues and ClimateChange: Geo-engineering, Carbon Offsets and Biofuels Workshop on the 17th.Groups will meet first on the 12th, so you need to have done this reading today.You should read papers from at least one of the sections below: (a)geoengineering (b) carbon offsetting (c) biofuels

(a) On geoengineering:Steve Gardiner (2009) "Is arming the future with geoengineering really the lesser evil?" Athttp://faculty. Washington.edu/smgard/SMG%20Home%20Page/Gardiner%20Geoengineering%2OAoril.Ddf and on Telesisde Araujo, Rosa and Brown (2007) "Ethical Issues created by Geo-Engineering Proposals: AnInitial Analvsis" at httD://climateethics.org/?D=24 and on Telesis.

(b) On carbon offsetting:George Mombiot (2006) "Selling indulgences" athttp://www.monbiot.com/archives/2006/10/19/selling-indulgences/ and on Telesis"To Offset or Not?" at httD://www.thecro.com/node/475 and on Telesis"Executive Summary" Offset Quality Initiative athttD://www.Dewclimate.org/docUDloads/Executive%20Summarv-OOI-Ensuring-Offset-Ouality-white-naDer.Ddf and on Telesis.

(c) On biofuels:Sharon Atysk "Ethics of Biofuels" at http://www.energybulletin.net/node/24169 and on TelesisErich W. Schienke 'The Ethics of Biofuel" httD://climateethics.org/?p=l 8 and on Telesis

Week 13:Nov. 17th:

Nov. 19th:

Applied Ethical Issues and Climate Change: Geo-engineering, Carbon Offsetsand Biofuels WorkshopWilderness 1

Week 14:Nov. 24th:

Nov. 26th:

Wilderness 2. Readings: Michael Nelson (200-207); Ramachandra Guha (338-345). Essay due in.No class: Thanksgiving

Week 15:Dec. 1st:Dec 3rd:

Catch up and Review ClassFinal Class Test

THERE IS NO LATER EXAMINATION FOR THIS CLASS: THIS CLASS TEST ENDSCLASS ASSESSMENT.

2. Format of classes and readingThere will be a mixture of discussion and lecturing on both Tuesdays and Thursdays.Generally we'll discuss readings on Thursdays, but there are some weeks where readings are forTuesday, or divided between Tuesday and Thursday, so check the syllabus regularly. I willexpect you to have done the readings each week, and I'll have 4 Random Reading Quizzes in thecourse of the semester (worth 10% of the final grade for the course). These tests should bestraightforward if you've done the reading and have shown up for class!

3. AssessmentThe course has a number of forms of assessment:

1. 4 Reading Quizzes (10%)2. First piece of coursework (15%)3. First class test with a case study and an essay (25%)4. Essay (25%)5. Final class test with a case study and an essay (25%)

This should test a number of different skills: recall, clear summarizing, researching,understanding texts, analyzing, criticizing and developing arguments; relating theory to practice.

Length of coursework: Keep to the assigned length. It's an important skill to write clearly,relevantly and concisely. Work that is more than 1 page over length, unless permission has beenobtained, will be penalized 1/3 of a grade (eg a B+ will become a B).Late work: Late work means extra time, and gives an advantage over other students. Thereforework will be penalized by 1/3 of a grade for every 2 days or part of two days it is late.(So, up to 2days late an A will become A-; from 2 - 4 days late A will become B+; and from 4 - 6 days late,A will become B). If you need an extension for medical or other personal reasons, please contactone of us.Taking the course on a Pass/Fail basis: You need to get an average of C+ overall to pass.

Grading: Good grades are gained by papers that display a combination of the following:

a. A demonstration that you understand material you've read, that you have given ita charitable hearing, and that you can accurately summarize key points from it.

b. Where relevant, a concise and accurate account of empirical material (This,though, should only constitute a small proportion of your paper).

c. The skills of reconstructing, analyzing and critically evaluating authors'arguments; and (where relevant) reformulating them more successfully.

d. An ability to argue persuasively for your own view, which involves: marshallingrelevant empirical information, explaining how it is relevant and supports yourcase, providing grounds for any claims that are made, considering counterarguments and counter-examples to your own argument, and showing why thesefail; making sure that your conclusions follow from premises.

e. Clear and concise writing, so that the reader can see immediately what you aretrying to say; an introduction that sets up the essay, signposts so that the readerknows where the essay is going, and paragraphs that follow on from one another,so that the essay has a sense of flow and structure.

To Avoidl: Unsubstantiated claims; discussions of feelings/opinions where these are not backedup by evidence or argument; inaccurate or carpingly uncharitable reporting of other positions;generalizations (such as "People think that"); discussions that have no reference to the work ofthose who have already written in the field.

For further assistance on writing a philosophy essay, this site at Princeton is highlyrecommended: http://www.iimDrvor.net/teaching/guidelines/writin3.html

And Note: You do not have to agree with any position that you think the instructors may betaking to get a good grade. Your work is judged on the basis of the strength of the arguments youpresent, not the position you adopt.

Referencing: You should reference all sources used, including web sites and materials from thetext book, in your paper, and to provide a bibliography. The bibliography does not count towardsyour page total.

Handing in Work: Work will generally be handed in, and handed back, in class. If you are unableto make class on the relevant day, work can be handed in and picked up from the Philosophyoffice in Wilson Hall where there are "Returned Work" and "Hand In" filing cabinets on the left-hand wall. You must obtain special permission to submit your paper electronically. If anelectronic submission is permitted, you are responsible for sending your work in a file format thatwe can open. Any file we cannot open, or that is distorted or unreadable, counts as a non-submission.

Assignments:1. Random Reading Quizzes (10%)There will be four of these randomly scattered through the semester. Each will have 10 questions;some are multiple choice, others will require an answer of a sentence or less. We'll collect thesein, grade them, and hand them back in the next class.

2. First Piece of Coursework (15%) - Hand in 29th September(a) Take any one of the following set readings: Lynn White Jr., Julian Simon, Peter Singer,

Tom Regan, Carl Cohen, Dale Jamieson. Identify the key position, or one of the keypositions, the author is taking in the paper you've selected.

(b) Clearly and carefully explain the position and the arguments the author gives to supportit, making sure to interpret the position fairly and charitably, and giving the best case thatcan be made for it.

(c) Outline either one or two possible objections to the author's position, explaining andgiving reasons for the objection(s). The more plausible the objections, the better; try togive the best possible objections you can.

(d) Consider how the author might respond to each of these objections, giving the bestpossible reply you can think of. Consider whether the proposed replies succeed indefeating the objections.

(e) Give an overall evaluation of the debate you've been considering. Which side of thedebate do you think has a stronger case? Be sure to explain carefully and thoroughlyyour reasons for choosing one side over the other.

Length: 4 double-spaced sides. Font: 12 point. Margins: 1 inch. Please keep to the page length.I'll discuss this paper in more detail closer to the time.

3. Mid-term class test (20%) - 15th OctoberThis 1.5 hour class test will comprise a case study and an essay. More information nearer the

4. Environmental Ethics Essay (25%) - Hand in 24'' NovemberThis longer essay should focus on an aspect of one of the ethical problems we have consideredsince mid-semester: hunting, species extinction, environmental restoration, wilderness andclimate change (including carbon offsetting, geo-engineering and biofuels). You should chooseone of the following:

(a) Identify a clearly-defined ethical question such as: "Is carbon offsetting an ethical wayfor individuals or businesses to counteract their GHG emissions?" "Should we carry outecological restorations of sites damaged by prior human activities?" which should formthe title of the paper. The paper should endeavor to answer the question, providing ethicalarguments that draw on material we've used and coming to a conclusion or policyrecommendation with respect to the question.

(b) Identify a particular case sttidy (eg. the Chicago restorations or proposed US cap-and-trade policy) and explore the ethical issues involved, again arguing to a conclusion andmaking a recommendation, either in policy terms or with respect to decision-making byindividuals involved.

You should use a minimum of 5 academic sources, though these need not all be set readings forthe course. Newspaper clippings, popular journalism etc should be in addition to the academicsources. This essay should be 6 double spaced sides long. More details nearer the time.

5. Final Class Test (25%) - 3rd DecemberThis 1.5 hour class test will contain a case study, and an essay question. Although the test will beoriented around the issues we've looked at in the second part of the semester, you will need toknow material from the whole course, not just the second half of the semester, in order to answerthe questions well.

The Participation GradeA small participation grade will be awarded to students who contribute (a) regularly and (b)helpfully to class discussion. This grade will take the form of a one third additional grade onthe essay (eg. a B will become a B+). No student should be disadvantaged by this grade (sincenothing is lost by not getting it) but it rewards students who have done the reading and help to getdiscussions going.

Dissatisfaction with GradesOccasionally a student is unhappy with a grade. If this is you, please do not knock on our doors,brandishing your paper or test, expecting an instant judgment; thinking about grades is a processthat takes time and reflection! Write a brief account explaining why you think the grade is unfair.Submit this account, with the contested piece of work, to Mindy Danner in the Philosophy officefor the attention of Clare Palmer. Both David and I will re-read the piece of work concerned andwill provide feedback and a view on the grade. If you are still unhappy, I will give the contestedpaper to another colleague in Philosophy to evaluate. If you wish to do this, you must agree toabide by the decision of the colleague: grades can go down as well as up by taking this route.Note: we will not enter into discussions about the award of the participation grade.

Academic IntegrityWashington University has an academic integrity policy, which applies to all undergraduates.You can read it at http://www.wustl.edu/D0licies/under2raduate-academic-integritv.html. Weadvise you to be familiar with this policy, and we will follow the procedures outlined in it if thereare cases of plagiarism, cheating, copying or other forms of academic misconduct in this class.

FURTHER READING AND USEFUL RESOURCES

Websites: General

Lawrence Hinman's Ethics Updates: http://ethics.sandiego.edu/ This site is good for ethics ingeneral, but has special sections, including videos, interviews etc, on animal and environmentalethics.

On-line encyclopedias of philosophy:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/ . This is an excellent resource andhas a pretty good entry on environmental ethics, but entries are rather difficult.

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Very useful, and not as daunting as the Stanford. Entriesare shorter, and there are good links. Available online, but if you're not on a WU computer,you'll need the proxy server.

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy http://www.iep.utm.edu/ Although this is a smallerencyclopedia with more restricted entries than Stanford and Routledge, there are some interestingarticles here. Freely available.

Websites for environmental ethics

The Center for Environmental Philosophy website at University of North Texas is the gatekeeperto a number of useful resources, including the International Society of Environmental Ethics online bibliography. See http://www.cep.unt.edu. The ISEE Bibliography can also be found directlyon http://www.cep.unt.edu/bib/

The Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics (FSEEE) has been an importantorganization in the US; this site could provide useful case studies: http://www.fseee.org/

Possibly the leading figure in environmental ethics, Holmes Rolston, has put much of his workonline. His website is at http://lamar.colostate.edu/~rolston/

The journals Ethics and the Environment and Environmental Values are both available onlinethrough university computers, or off-campus via the proxy server

Useful further reading in environmental ethics

This is inevitably a very brief bibliography: please contact me if you want to look at anyparticular area in more detail. The journal Environmental Ethics is the leading journal in thefield. It is only available at Washington University in paper copy. The library has a full run of it.Many of the articles have been reproduced elsewhere, and there's a complete index online athttp://www.cep.unt.edn/index 17.html This journal should be your first port of call on anyparticular subject in which you're interested.

General:Benson, John (2000) Environmental Ethics: An Introduction with Readings (London: Routledge)Somewhat eclectic, but has an interesting and unusual range of readings. Benson was well knownin British analytic philosophy in the 1970s.Callicott, J.Baird. (1994) Earth's Insights: A Multicultural Survey of Ecological Ethics from theMediterranean Basin to the Australian Outback. (Berkeley: University of California Press). Amaddening but sometimes useful work for those interested in exploring different religious andcultural approaches to environmental ethics.Elliot, R. & Gare, A.(1983) Environmental Philosophy (Milton Keynes: Open UP) An early, butstill useful collection.Light, A and Rolston H (2001) Environmental Ethics (Oxford: Blackwell). A slightly higher-level reader, with an excellent overview essay (I'm kidding!) and sections on environmentalpragmatism, restoration etc not covered in some other collections.

AnimalsAllen, C. & Bekoff, M. (1997). Species of Mind: The Philosophy and Biology of CognitiveEthology. MIT Press (as background; not advocating any particular ethical approach).Bernstein, Mark On Moral Considerability (Oxford: OUP)De Grazia, David (1996) Taking Animals Seriously (Oxford: OUP)Feinberg, Joel 'The Rights of Animals and Unborn Generations," in William T. Blackstone(editor), Philosophy & Environmental Crisis (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1974): 43-68(26pp).

Frey, R.F. (1983) Rights, Killing and Suffering (Oxford: Blackwell) (against vegetarianism)Harrison, P (1991). Do animals feel pain? Philosophy 66:25-40Jamieson, Dale. (1990). "Rights, Justice, and Duties to Provide Assistance: A Critique ofRegan's Theory of Rights", Ethics 100Regan, Tom (1983) The Case for Animal Rights (Cambridge: CUP).Singer, Peter (1976: 1883 ed.) Animal Liberation (London: Thorsons)Journal special editions: The Monist 70 1987; Philosophy 53 1978

Biocentric and Ecocentric ApproachesAttfield, Robin (1983) The Ethics of Environmental Concern (Oxford: Blackwell; revised editionAthens: University of Georgia Press). Airfield's book explores Judeo-Christian ideas of stewardshipand domination, as well as considering human obligations to future generations of humans, and tothe nonhuman natural world.J. Baird Callicott, "The Conceptual Foundations of the Land Ethic" (in our textbook)Carlson, Allen (1979) "Appreciation of the Natural Environment," Journal of Aesthetics and ArtCriticism 37: 357-376Johnson, Lawrence. (1991) A Morally Deep World: An essay on moral significance andenvironmental ethics. (New York: Cambridge University Press). ALeopold, Aldo A Sand County Almanac (Oxford: Oxford University Press)Rolston, Holmes (1979) "Can We and Ought We to Follow Nature?," Environmental Ethics 1: 7-30Rolston, Holmes. (1988). Environmental Ethics: Duties To and Values In the Natural World.(Philadelphia: Temple University Press). This is Holmes Rolston's major systematic work inenvironmental ethics. He examines a range of questions in environmental ethics, developing his ownview on the nature of environmental value throughout.Routley, R & V (1979)"Against the Inevitability of Human Chauvinism," in K. E. Goodpasterand K. E. Sayer, Ethics and the Problems of the 21st Century (Notre Dame, Ind.: University ofNotre Dame Press): 36-59 .Stone, Christopher (1973) "Should Trees Have Standing?" Southern California Law Review 45(1972): 450-501 (An early argument for legal rights, an abbreviated version is in our textbook)Taylor, Paul (1986) Respect for Nature (Princeton: Princeton University Press)Varner, Gary (1998) In Nature's Interests (Oxford: Oxford University Press)

The Triangular AffairHargrove, E. (ed.) (1993) The Animal Liberation/Environmental Ethics Debate (New York:SUNY Press) This anthology contains many of the key articles in the animal rights/environmental ethics debate, including 'Animal Liberation: A Triangular Affair.' It's aconvenient way of accessing a range of papers and also has a helpful historical introduction.O'Neil, Rick (2000) "Animal Liberation versus Environmentalism" Environmental Ethics 22/2p. 183-190.

HuntingBekoff and Jamieson 'Sport hunting as instinct - another evolutionary just-so story'Environmental Ethics 1991 vol. 13 no.4 pp. 375-378Causey, Anne (1989) On the Morality of Hunting Environmental Ethics 11 327-343Countryside Alliance (1999) Hunting the Facts (http://www.countryside-alliance.org)Curnutt, J. (1996) "How to argue for and against sport hunting" Journal of Social Philosophy27(2)65-89Dizard, Jan (1994) Going Wild: Hunting, Animal Rights and the Contested meaning of Nature(Amhurst: University of Massachusetts Press)Gunn , Alistair "Environmental Ethics and Trophy Hunting Ethics and the Environment 6 68-95

Kerasote, Ted (1993) Bloodties: Nature, Culture and the Hunt (New York: Kodansha)King, R. J. H. 'Environmental ethics and the case for hunting' Environmental Ethics 1991 vol.13no.lpp.59-85List, Charles (1997) "Is Hunting a Right Thing?" Environmental Ethics 19/4 1997 p. 405-416;List, Charles (1998) 'On the Moral Significance of a Hunting Ethic' Ethics and the Environmentvol. 3 no.2 pp. 157-175Luke, Brian (1997) "A Critical Analysis of Hunter's Ethics" Environmental Ethics 19/1 1997 p.25-44Moriarty, P.V. and Woods, M. (1997) 'Hunting does not equal predation' Environmental Ethics1997 vol. 19 no. 4 pp.391-404Rolston, Holmes (1991) Environmental Ethics p 88-93.Vitali, T. (1990) 'Sport hunting - moral or immoral' Environmental Ethics vol. 12 no.l 69-82.

Environmental RestorationElliott, Robert (1997) Faking Nature (London: Routledge)Higgs, Eric (1997) "What is good ecological restoration?" Conservation Biology 11 (2), 338-348.Katz, Eric (1992) "The Big Lie: Human Restoration of Nature" Research in Philosophy andTechnology 12: 231-241Light, Andrew and Eric S. Higgs.(1996) "The politics of ecological restoration". EnvironmentalEthics 18 /3p 227-247.Throop, W. (2000). Environmental Restoration: Ethics, Theory and Practice. (Humanity Books:Prometheus)

Biodiversity and Species ExtinctionEhrlich, Anne and Ehrlich, Paul, (1981) Extinction: The Causes and Consequences of theDisappearance of Species (NY: Random House)Norton, Bryan (1986)(ed.) The Preservation of Species (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UniversityPress) 110-137Norton, Bryan (ed)(1987) Why Preserve Natural Variety? (Princeton: Princeton Uni. Press)Sarkar, Sahotra (2005) Biodiversity and Environmental Philosophy: An Introduction.Cambridge: Cambridge University PressSokal, Robert (1995) 'The Continuing Search for Order' in Sober (ed.) Conceptual Issues inEvolutionary Biology (2nd ed.)(MIT)Sokal, Robert and Crevello, Theodore (1992) 'The Biological Species Concept: A CriticalEvaluation", in Ereshevsky, Marc (ed.) The Units of Evolution: Essays on the Nature of Species(Massachusetts: MIT Press) pp.27Wiley, E.O. (1992) 'The Evolutionary Species Concept Reconsidered" in Ereshevsky, Marc (ed.)The Units of Evolution pp. 79-92

Climate ChangeBeckerman, Wilfred, and Joanna Pasek (2001) Justice, Posterity and the Environment.Oxford: Oxford University Press.Brown, Donald. (2002) American Heat: Ethical Problems with the United States' Response toGlobal Warming. Lanham, MD: Rowman & LittlefieldFrancis, Leslie Pickering (2003) "Global Systemic Problems and Interconnected Duties."Environmental Ethics, 25: 115-28Gardiner, Stephen (2004) The Global Warming Tragedy and the Dangerous Elusion of theKyoto Protocol', Ethics and International Affairs, Vol. 18, No. 1 23-39. Steve has a number ofarticles on climate change available at his website:httD://facultv.washington.edu/smgard/index2.shtml

Hood, Robert (2003) "Global Warming." Companion to Applied Ethics, eds. R. G. Frey andChristopher Wellman, pp. 674-84. Oxford: BlackwellLomborg, Bjorn (2001) "Global Warming." The Sceptical Environmentalist. Cambridge:Cambridge University PressShue, Henry (2001) "Climate" in A Companion to Environmental Philosophy, ed. DaleJamieson, 449-59. (Oxford: Blackwell)There's a website on The Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change at Penn State University's RockEthics Institute, with some interesting information and links: http://rockethics.psu.edu/climate/

WildernessBirch, Tom (1990) "The Incarceration of Wilderness: Wilderness Areas as Prisons,"Environmental Ethics 12: 3-26Callicott and Nelson (eds.) (1998) The Great New Wilderness Debate (Athens: University ofGeorgia Press) and The Wilderness Debate Rages On (2008) A really useful collection of extractsfrom the classics (especially the first volume) and key essays on wilderness.Nash, Roderick. (1983). Wilderness and the American Mind. New Haven: Yale UniversityPress.Nash, Roderick (1977) "The Value of Wilderness," Environmental Review 3: 14-25Oelschlaeger, Max (1991). The Idea of Wilderness. New Haven: Yale University PressRolston, Holmes (1996) Feeding People versus Saving Nature available at