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BIO324/PHI310

ENVIRONMENTALETHICSFall2011

LL2TTH12:00‐1:15

Instructor: Dr.BenA.MinteerTeachingAssistant: MarciBaranskiOffices: Minteer:LSA262;Baranski:LSC268OfficeHours: Minteer:T2‐3:30;W1:30‐3:00;BaranskiTH1:30‐3:30 [othertimesbyappointment]Phone: Minteer:5‐4632Email: Ben.Minteer@asu.edu Marci.Baranski@asu.edu

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COURSEDESCRIPTIONEnvironmentalethicschallengesustoconfrontprofoundanddifficultquestions

aboutthemoralstatusofnature;therelativevalueofnonhumanindividuals,populations,andecosystems;andtheresponsibilitieswemayhavetoshrinkourlocal,regional,andglobalecologicalfootprintastheplanet’smostdominantspecies.Shouldwe,forexample,conservewildplantsandanimalpopulationsfortheirusefulness(e.g.,asfood,fiber,medicine,entertainment,etc.),ordotheyhaveaninherentworthoradignitythatdemandsrespect–andthatwouldmakeexploitationofthemmorallyunjustifiable?Whyisthewilderness(boththeplaceandtheidea)importanttousandwhataretheimplicationsofbecomingattachedtotheidealofpristinelandscapesinscienceandpolicy?Areourdominantmodesofsettlement(e.g.,dwellingincitiesandsuburbs);foodproductionandconsumption;andenergyuseethicallydefensiblegivenwhatweknowabouttheirconsequencesforanimalwelfare,speciesviability,andecologicalintegrity?“Sustainability”isanimportantconcepttoday(bothatASUandasanationalandinternationalpolicygoal),butwhatdoesitreallymeanandwhyshouldwemakesacrificestoachieveit?Whatwouldajustandsustainablesocietylooklike?Whyisclimatechangesuchacontroversialandchallengingissueandwhatwouldanappropriatelyethicalresponsetoclimatechangerequireofus?

Wewilladdresstheseandmanyrelatedquestionsthroughoutthesemester.We’lldosobyreadingaseriesofimportantandinterestingbooksonthesesubjects,andbydiscussingthesethemesandproblemsinlectures.You’llwriteabouttheminshortessayassignments,inweeklywebpostings,andinyouressayexams.Ourprimarygoalinthiscourseistolearnhowtheprinciplesandconceptsofenvironmentalethicscanhelpusbetterunderstandandengagesuchprofoundproblemsconfrontingustoday,andaskhardquestionsaswellaboutourownvaluesandchoices,bothasconsumersandcitizens.TEXTS(REQUIRED):

Moore&NelsonLeopold Krakauer Wilson Singer&MasonMoralGroundASandCountyAlmanac IntotheWild TheFutureofLifeTheEthicsofWhat

WeEat

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COURSEREQUIREMENTS

1.Midtermexam 30%2.Finalexam 35%3.Shortwritingassignments 20%(2@10%/ea)4.Weeklyblackboardpostings 15% Total 100%ANOTEONTHEREADING

Thereisasignificantamountofreadingforthiscourse.Mostofthereadingwillcomefromtherequiredcoursetexts,thoughoccasionallywewillreadanessayavailableonthecoursewebsite.Whilethereadingexpectationsarehigh,youshouldknowthatthecoursetextshavebeenchosenfortheiraccessibilityandreadabilityaswellastheirrigorandimportancetokeyquestionsandissuesinenvironmentalethics.Inotherwords,you’llfindthatyouenjoyreadingthesebooksandthattheideasandargumentstheycontainwillstaywithyoulongafterthissemesterisover.Inmanycasesthereadingwillfeeddirectlyintoourclasslectures;atothertimesitwillsupplementorillustratepointsraisedinlectures(andyouwillbeexpectedtodrawsuchconnectionsinyourwebpostings,essays,andexams).Youshouldalwaysfeelfreetovisitusduringourofficehoursifyouhaveanyquestionsaboutthereading,orifyousimplywanttodiscussthematerialinmoredetailonaparticularday.OfficehoursareyourtimesoIencourageyoutotakeadvantageofthem.*NOTETHATTHETEXTMORALGROUNDHASANINTERESTINGCOMPANIONWEBSITETHATYOUMIGHTFIND

USEFUL:HTTP://MORALGROUND.COM/EXAMSANDWRITINGASSIGNMENTS

Yourmidtermandfinalexamswillbeinessayformat.Forboth,youwillreceiveasetofessayquestionsaweekbeforetheexamisheld.Whenyoucomeintoclassontheexamday,Iwillhaveselectedasubsetofthequestionsforyoutowriteonthatday.Whileyouwillbeabletostudyforthequestionsinadvanceoftheexam,theexamitselfwillbeclosedbookandclosednotes.

Thetwoshortwritingassignments,focusedonthereadingand/orfilms/currenteventswillbedueinthefirstandlastthirdsofthesemester.Eachshortwritingassignmentwillrequirea550‐700‐wordessayresponse.Youwillreceivefurtherdirectionsandguidelinesontheseassignmentsaseachduedateapproaches.

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BLACKBOARDPOSTINGSInadditiontothetwoexamsandtheshortwritingassignments,youwillsubmit

regular,shortwebpostingstotheDiscussionBoardonthecourseBlackboardsite(postingswillbedueby5:00PMonTuesdaysexceptwhennotedontheschedule).Thesepostingswillberesponsestoaquestionorissuepresentedtoyouinadiscussionthreadonthediscussionboard;answersshouldgenerallybeatleastaparagraphinlength(i.e.,150‐200words).POLICYONLATESUBMISSIONS/MISSEDWORK

Latewebpostingswillnotbeaccepted.Lateshortessayassignmentswillbedocked1lettergradeperdayaftertheduedate;assignmentssubmittedmoretwodayslatewillnotbeaccepted.Missedin‐classexamsmayonlybemadeupwithadocumentedmedicalexcuse.POLICYONACADEMICDISHONESTY

In the “Student Academic Integrity Policy” manual, ASU defines “’Plagiarism” [as]using another's words, ideas, materials or work without properly acknowledging anddocumentingthesource.Studentsareresponsibleforknowingtherulesgoverningtheuseofanother'sworkormaterialsandforacknowledginganddocumentingthesourceappropriately.”Youcanfindthisdefinitionat:http://www.asu.edu/studentaffairs/studentlife/judicial/academic_integrity.htm#definitions.Academicdishonesty, including inappropriatecollaboration,willnotbe tolerated.Thereareseveresanctionsforcheating,plagiarizing,andanyotherformofdishonesty.

*NB:Allcellphonesandelectronicdevicesmustbeturnedoffandoutofsightduringexams.Ifastudentisspottedwithacellphoneoutduringanexam,thestudentwillreceiveanimmediategradeofzerofortheexam,andpotentiallyfurtherdisciplinaryaction.

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COURSESCHEDULEANDASSIGNMENTS

8.18.11 CourseIntroduction–EnvironmentalProblemsasEthicalChallenges• MG:xv‐xxiv,3‐8,9‐14,21‐24

8.23.11 DominionorStewardship?Religion&EnvironmentalEthics

• L.White,Jr.,“TheHistoricalRootsofourEcologicCrisis”(Blackboard(BB))• MG:243‐253,260‐266

(webpostingdueby5:00)8.25.11 Religion&EnvironmentalEthics:IsGodGreen?

• “WhenCleanerAirisaBiblicalObligation”(BB)• MG:51‐54,169‐173

8.30.11 ContemporaryEnvironmentalEthicalTheory

• B.Minteer,“ValuingNature”(BB)• MG:32‐37,60‐64

(webpostingdueby5:00)9.1.11 ContemporaryEnvironmentalEthicalTheory(continued)

• MG:88‐95,100‐102

9.6.11 CaseStudy:EthicsofPredatorControlintheWest(KillingCoyote)• C.Fox,“CoyotesandHumans:CanWeCoexist?”(BB)• [StartreadingASandCountyAlmanac(SCA):“JanuaryThaw,”GoodOak,”

“Draba,”&“BurOak”(webpostingdueby5:00)

9.8.11 FoundationsofEnvironmentalEthics:Leopold&theLandEthic

• SCA:“SkyDance,”“GreatPossessions,”“PrairieBirthday,”“Axe‐in‐Hand,”“MarshlandElegy,”“OnaMonumenttothePigeon,”&“Flambeau”

• MG:108‐114

9.13.11 Leopold&theLandEthic• SCA:“ThinkingLikeaMountain,”“Escudilla,”“SongoftheGavilan,”

“ConservationEsthetic,”&“TheLandEthic”• MG:196‐201,207‐210

(webpostingdueby5:00)9.15.11 GreenFire:AldoLeopoldandaLandEthicforourTime

• MG:123‐128,220‐224• StartreadingIntotheWild(ITW),ch’s1‐4

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9.20.11 TheWildernessIdea• SCA:“Wilderness”• ITW:Ch’s5‐10• R.Nash,“PoweroftheWild”(BB) (webpostingdueby5:00)

9.22.11 TheWildernessIdeaReconsidered

• ITW:Ch’s11‐15• E.Marris,“TheEndoftheWild”(BB)

**FirstShortEssayDue**

9.27.11 NaturalConnections&theLureoftheWild:GrizzlyMan• ITW(finish)

(webpostingdueby5:00)9.29.11 TheCity:RethinkingEnvironmentalEthics

• D.Owen,“GreenManhattan”(BB)

10.4.11 EcologicalRestoration&EnvironmentalJustice• KristinSchrader‐Frechette,“Introduction”(fromKristinSchrader‐Frechette,

EnvironmentalJustice)(BB)• MG:312‐316

(webpostingdueby5:00)10.6.11 **MIDTERMEXAM**10.11.11 CaseStudy:RadicalActionforBiodiversity?(TheWhaleWarrior)

• TheFutureofLife(FoL):Ch2• “Neptune’sNavy”(BB)

(webpostingdueby5:00)

10.13.11 Biodiversity:Whatitisandwhyit’sDeclining• FoL:Ch’s3‐4• MG:119‐122,220‐224

10.18.11 ValuingBiodiversity

• FoL,ch’s5‐7• MG:373‐376

(webpostingdueby5:00)

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10.20.11 ValuingBiodiversity/EthicalDilemmasinConservationScience&Management

• B.MinteerandJ.Collins,“FromEnvironmentaltoEcologicalEthics”(BB)• MG:337‐342

10.25.11 CaseStudy:Culture,Commerce,&ConservationEthics(MilkingtheRhino)• [readingcatch‐up]

(webpostingdueby5:00)10.27.11 TheEthicsofFoodProduction:IndustrialAgriculture&AnimalWelfare

• TheEthicsofWhatWeEat(EWWE):Introduction,ch’s1‐311.1.11 IndustrialAgricultureandAnimalWelfare(Cont’d)

• EWWE:Ch’s4‐5 (webpostingdueby5:00)

11.3.11 VisionsofIndustrialAnimalAgriculture:OurDailyBread• EWWE:Ch’s8,10‐12

11.8.11 EatingEthically&AlternativeAgriculture

• EWWE:Ch’s14,16‐18(webpostingdueby5:00)

11.10.11 GlobalClimateChange(GCC):TheViewfromEnvironmentalEthics

• MG:25‐29,75‐78,174‐177,183‐188,279‐282,321‐326**SecondShortEssayDue**

11.15.11 GCC:The11thHour• MG:356‐362,369‐372,429‐439

(webpostingdueby5:00)11.17.11 ManagedRelocation,Geoengineering,&LifeintheAnthropocene

• B.MinteerandJ.Collins,“MoveitorLoseit”(BB)• Robock,“20ReasonswhyGeoengineeringmaybeaBadIdea”(BB)• MG:70‐74,403‐406

11.22.11 ClimateChange/Sustainability:WhatdoweOwetheFuture?

• MG:294‐311,421‐428,444‐447(webpostingdueby5:00)

11.24.11 Thanksgiving–NoClass

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11.29.11 SustainableDevelopment:ClimateChange&theEthicsofAdaptation

• ReadingTBA(BB)• (webpostingdueby5:00)

12.1.11 WhenSustainabilityGetsPersonal:NoImpactMan

• [readingcatch‐up]12.6.11 Finaldiscussionandreview

• MG:452‐468(webpostingdueby5:00)

12.8.11 **FINALEXAM:9:50‐11:40AM**