PHILOSOPHY 445/544: ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS

FALL 2006

Professor:	John Nolt	Office Phone:	974-7218
Office:	818 McClung Tower	Home Phone:	573-4135
Office Hours:	11-12 TR, 2-3 R and by appointment	E-mail: Web Site:	nolt@utk.edu web.utk.edu/~nolt

REQUIRED TEXTS

Erazim Kohák, The Embers and the Stars: A Philosophical Inquiry into the Moral Sense of Nature, Chicago, 1984.

Andrew Light and Holmes Rolston III, Environmental Ethics: An Anthology, Blackwell, 2003.

Holmes Rolston III, Environmental Ethics: Duties to and Values in the Natural World, Temple University Press, 1988.

Mark Sagoff, The Economy of the Earth: Philosophy, Law and the Environment, Cambridge University Press, 1988.

ABOUT THE COURSE

This is an advanced course on environmental ethical theory. It is open to both advanced undergraduates and graduate students. Assignments for graduate and undergraduate students will differ somewhat (see “Grades” section below).

GRADES

Grades for the course will be based on the following:

For undergraduates:

Three position papers: 20% each

Term paper (3000 words): 40%

For graduate students:

Three position papers: 15% each

Seminar presentation: 15 %

Term paper (6000 words): 40%

Position papers should explain and critique a specific claim or argument by an author we have read. They should be about 3-4 pages (750-1000 words, double-spaced) long. To save paper, I encourage electronic submissions.

Term papers should provide a critical analysis of some central idea in a given area of environmental ethics. That is, the paper should:

1. exhibit a detailed knowledge of all the writings we have covered in which this idea is discussed
2. argue for or against the idea
3. discuss objections to your argument
4. consider how opponents would reply to the objections
5. provide a summary and conclusion.

Graduate papers should, in addition to using the material we cover in class, be based on research into the environmental ethics literature. For all students, the term paper is due on Nov. 30.

Graduate students will, in addition, give seminar presentations on prominent papers in the literature on environmental ethics, to be chosen by the graduate student in consultation with me. A seminar presentation will typically consist of a 15-minute critical summary of the work to be discussed, followed by a general class discussion.

COURSE CALENDAR

Reading assignments in the calendar on the next page should be completed by the date for which they are listed (except, of course, for the first one). Come prepared with questions to discuss in class. The abbreviation L&R refers to the Light and Rolston anthology.

Date	Topic	Assignment
Part I: Lay of the Land in Environmental Ethics
8/24	Introduction to Environmental Ethics	Palmer in L&R, pp. 15-37; Leopold in L&R, pp. 38-46.
8/29	Valuing and the environment	Rolston, ch. 1
8/31	Duties to sentient life	Rolston, ch. 2
9/5	Duties to organic life and species	Rolston, chs. 3-4
9/7	Duties to ecosystems and nature itself	Rolston, ch. 5-6; Cahen in L&R, pp. 114-28.
9/12	Anthropocentrism	Norton in L&R, pp. 163-74, Hargrove in L&R, pp. 175-90
9/14	Animal and environmental ethics	Katz in L&R, pp. 85-94; Varner in L&R, pp. 95-113.
9/19	Biocentric individualism	Taylor in L&R, pp. 74-84.
9/21	The nature and justification of intrinsic value	O’Niell in L&R, pp. 131-42 Nolt, “The Move from Good to Ought in Environmental Ethics” (on Blackboard)
9/26	Deep ecology	Fox and Naess in L&R, pp. 251-74
9/28	Ecofeminism	Gaard & Gruen in L&R, pp. 275-93; Warren & Cheney in L&R, pp. 294-305
10/3	Pragmatism	Weston in L&R, pp. 306-18; Minteer & Manning in L&R, pp. 319-30
10/5	Pluralism I	Stone in L&R, pp. 193-202; Callicott in L&R, pp. 203-19
10/10	Pluralism II	Wenz in L&R, pp. 220-8; Light in L&R, pp. 229-47
Part II: Environment and Economics
10/12	NO CLASS—FALL BREAK
10/17	Sustainability	Scherer in L&R, pp. 333-58
10/19	Political vs. economic questions, cost-benefit analysis	Sagoff, Introduction, chs. 1 and 2
10/24	Citizens and consumers, prices and values	Sagoff, chs. 3-4
10/26	Values and preferences, nature and the national ideal	Sagoff, ch. 5-6
10/31	Evironmentalism and liberalism, property and the value of land	Sagoff, chs. 7-9
Part III: A Phenomenological/Theologicial Approach
11/2	Phenomenology and the moral sense of nature	Kohak, pp. ix-85
11/7	Personalism and theodicy	Kohak, pp. 89-175
11/9	Theology and nature: the eternal within the temporal	Kohak, pp. 179-223
Part IV: Seminar Presentations
11/14	Seminar presenations
11/16	Seminar presenations
11/21	Seminar presenations
11/23	NO CLASS—THANKSGIVING
11/28	Seminar presenations
11/30	Seminar presenations
12/5	Seminar presenations
12/7	NO CLASS—STUDY DAY
12/11	FINAL CLASS 12:30-2:30, final seminar presentations

DISABILITIES: Students who have a disability that requires accommodation should make an appointment with the Office of Disability Services (974-6087) to discuss their specific needs and schedule an appointment with me during my office hours.