Environmental Ethics
PHIL 280/ENVR 269
Spring 2009
Dr. McWhorter

The following books are required and are available for purchase in the University Bookstore.

Carson, Silent Spring

Kant, Grounding for a Metaphysics of Morals

Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

Mill, Utilitarianism

Shiva, Water Wars

Steingraber, Living Downstream

For a list and description of graded assignments in this course, click here.

Calendar of Readings

January 12:
Introduction to the Course.

January 14:

Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, chapters 1, 2, and 17, John Lee's July, 1962, New York Times article, "Silent Spring is Now Noisy Summer," and Samuel Rotrosen's November, 1962, Letter to the Editor of the New York Times, "Pesticides Defended."

January 16:

Sandra Steingraber, Living Downstream, pp. 1-147. Learn more about Sandra Steingraber by visiting her website.

January 19:

Sandra Steingraber, Living Downstream, pp. 148-284.

January 21:

Lynton Caldwell, The National Environmental Policy Act, pp. 1-22 (electronic reserve, listed as "Environmental Policy: Values and Perceptions"). Students will want to refer to the full text of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, online. The Environmental Protection Agency, established under NEPA in 1970, lists all superfund sites online. You can also check the sites in your hometown or around Richmond using the web site Scorecard.

January 23:

Guest Speaker: Carol Anderson, Environmental Manager, Department of Defense, Fort Lee, VA. In preparation for her talk, students should read Lynton Caldwell, The National Environmental Policy Act, pp. 23-47 (electronic reserve, listed as "Environmental Policy: Values and Perceptions"). Students will want to refer to the full text of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, online.

January 26:
Mill, Utilitarianism, chapters I and II. Optional Ethics Essay #1 due!

January 28:
Mill, Utilitarianism, chapters III and IV.

January 30:
Mill, Utilitarianism, chapter V.

February 2:

EXAM!

February 4:

Rachel Godsil, "Remedying Environmental Racism," Michigan Law Review, Vol. 90, no. 2 (November 1991): 394-427. Students may want to read through the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA).

February 6:

United Church of Christ 2007 report "Toxic Waste and Race at 20," introduction and chapter one, and Clinton Executive Orders #21898 and #13045. Students may also want to skim the Executive Summary of the UCC report to see the Commission's recommendations and have a look at chapter six on Hurricane Katrina.

February 9:

Daniel R. Faber and Eric J. Krieg, "Unequal Exposure to Ecological Hazards: Environmental Injustices in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 110, supplement 2: Community, Research, and Environmental Justice (April, 2002): 277-288.

February 11:

Guest Speaker on the Environmental Justice Movement: Dr. Andrea Simpson, "Halting, Heroic, Hopeful: Today and Tomorrow in the Environmental Justice Movement." In preparation for her talk, students should read her article "Who Hears Their Cry? The Fight for Environmental Justice in Memphis, Tennessee" from The Environmental Justice Reader, edited by Adamson, Evans, Platt, and Stein, pp. 82-103 (electronic reserve).

February 13:
Immanuel Kant, Grounding for a Metaphysics of Morals, preface. Optional Ethics Essay #2 due!

February 16:

Immanuel Kant, Grounding for a Metaphysics of Morals, first section.

February 18:

Immanuel Kant, Grounding for a Metaphysics of Morals, second section.

February 20:

Immanuel Kant, Grounding for a Metaphysics of Morals, third section.

February 23:

Alexander Broadie and Elizabeth Pyrabus, "Kant's Treatment of Animals," from Philosophy, Vol. 49 (October, 1974): 375-383; Tom Regan, "Kant and Animals," from Philosophy, Vol. 51 (October, 1976): 471-472;and Broadie and Pyrbus' reply to Regan, "Kant and the Maltreatment of Animals" from Philosophy, Vol. 53 (October, 1978): 560-561.

February 25:

Paul Taylor, "The Ethics of Respect for Nature" from Environmental Ethics. Vol. 3 (Fall 1981): 197-218, reprinted in The Environmental Ethics and Policy Book, Van deVeer & Pierce, pp. 201-215 (electronic reserve).

February 27:

Stanford Environmental Law Society, The Endangered Species Act, pp. 1-30; Lilly-Marlene Russow, "Why Do Species Matter?" from Environmental Ethics, Vol. 3, no. 2 (Summer, 1981): 101-112, reprinted in The Environmental Ethics and Policy Book, VanDeVeer & Pierce, pp. 469-84 (electronic reserve). Students may want to refer to the text of the Endangered Species Act online.

March 2:
Kenneth Goodpaster, "On Being Morally Considerable," from The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. LXXV, No., 6 (June, 1978): 308-325.

March 4:
EXAM!

March 6:

NO CLASS: Foucault Circle Meetings at DePaul University.

March 9-13:
NO CLASS: SPRING BREAK!

March 16:

Holmes Rolston III, "Duties to Endangered Species," from BioScience, Vol. 35, no. 11 (December, 1985): 718-726. Optional Ethics Essay #3 due!

March 18:

Jamie Shreeve, "The Other Stem-Cell Debate," from The New York Times Magazine, April 10, 2005. The report of the Working Group on Interspecific Chimeric Brains is online and there is at least one photograph of a chimera.

March 20:

Richard Lewontin, "Genes in the Food!" from The New York Review of Books, reprinted in The Environmental Ethics and Policy Book, VanDeVeer & Pierce, pp. 502-507 (electronic reserve) .

March 23:

Jules Pretty, "The rapid emergence of genetic modification in world agriculture: contested risks and benefits," from Environmental Conservation, Vol. 28, no. 3 (2001): 248-262.

March 25:

Claudia Mills, "Patenting Life" from Philosophy and Public Policy, vol. 5, no. 1 (Winter, 1985), reprinted in The Environmental Ethics and Policy Book, VanDeVeer & Pierce, pp. 496-498 (electronic reserve) and Michael Pollan, "The Potato," from The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World, 186-238 (electronic reserve). Optional Ethics Essay #4 due! For more information about the science of genetic engineering, check out the UK's Royal Society web page.

March 27:

Mario R. Capecchi, "Human Germline Gene Therapy: How and Why," and French W. Anderson, "A New Front in the Battle Against Disease," from Engineering the Human Germline: An Exploration of the Science and Ethics of Altering the Genes We Pass to Our Children (2000), pp. 31-48 (electronic reserve)

March 30:

John Campbell, et. al., "A Panel Discussion" from Engineering the Human Germline: An Exploration of the Science and Ethics of Altering the Genes We Pass to Our Children (2000), pp. 73-95 (electronic reserve).

April 1:

Stephen Palumbi, "Biotechnology and the Chemical Plow," from The Evolution Explosion: How Humans Cause Rapid Evolutionary Change, pp. 162-183 (electronic reserve).

April 3:

Martin Heidegger, "The Question Concerning Technology" from The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays (electronic reserve). Optional Ethics Essay #5 due!

April 6-8:

NO CLASS: Students should use this time to read Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, in its entirety to prepare for discussion on Friday.

April 10:

Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, entire.

April 13:
"Climate Change Science: An Analysis of Key Questions" by The National Academy of Sciences, summary (pp. 1-5) and section 6: future climate change (pp. 18-21).

April 15:

Vandana Shiva, Water Wars, pp. 1-86. Additionally, please listen to this 9-minute radio broadcast about farmers and water in India. You can see pictures of Vandana Shiva and read an interview with her in In Motion Magazine.

April 17:

Vandana Shiva, Water Wars, pp. 87-140. Additionally, please listen to this 8-minute radio broadcast about water and the green revolution.

April 20:

"The Long Emergency" by James Howard Kunstler from Rolling Stone, March 24, 2005, and "The end of oil is closer than you think" by John Vidal from The Guardian, April 21, 2005. Optional Ethics Essay #6 due!

April 22:

EARTH DAY: Volunteer Projects.

April 24:

Wrap Up Day: Volunteer Project Summaries Due!

April 27:

COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAM, 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM. Students may choose either of these exam times or the May 2 time slot.

May 2:
COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAM, 7:00 PM. Students who did not take the exam during either of the April 27 periods must take the exam during this time slot.
 

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