ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS (Rel 2104)

SECTIONS

5712: Monday, Period 5-6 (11:45-1:40), Florida Gym, Room 280;
Wednesday, period 3 (9:35-10:25), Anderson, Room 32

5716: Monday, Period 5-6 (11:45-1:40), Florida Gym, Room 280;
Wednesday, period 5 (11:45-12:35), Matherly Hall, Room 11

5723: Monday, Period 5-6 (11:45-1:40), Florida Gym, Room 280;
Wednesday, period 6 (12:50-1:40), Anderson, Room 32

INSTRUCTOR CONTACTS

Professor Bron Taylor (Ph.D.)
Email: bron@religion.ufl.edu
Office: Anderson 121
Office hours: Monday, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m, and by appointment.
Jaya Reddy (Teaching Assistant)
Email: jreddy@ufl.edu
Office: Anderson 119
Office hours: Monday: 2:00 - 3:00, and by appointment
Jimi Wilson (Teaching Assistant)
Email: jimi45@ufl.edu
Office: Anderson 123
Office hours: Monday, 10:00-11:30, and by appointment

DESCRIPTION

Brief Course Description (in UF Catalogue)
Exploration of competing secular and religious views regarding human impacts on and moral responsibilities toward nature and of the key thinkers and social movements in contention over them.

Role in Curriculum
This course serves as an elective for Religion majors and minors, and provides credit for the department’s ethics emphasis. It also meets the ethics requirement in UF’s Sustainability minor and for SNRE students, and provides Humanities General Education, and Gordon Rule Writing credit (E2/2000 words or more).

Overview
As concern over the well-being of the planet spreads, people frequently find themselves in conflict over how to balance conservation with the use of natural resources, about visions for our common future, and the wisdom of development. Such conflict stems in important ways from varying understandings of values and responsibilities, of what is good and right. In this course we will examine a wide range of intellectual efforts to address the problem of our obligations to [the] Earth and its living systems. Although we will focus on contemporary philosophical environmental ethics we will also introduce religious environmental ethics, examine ideas about nature prevalent in American culture and history, and examine how individuals involved in contemporary environmental movements express and endeavor to implement their environmental values.

Teaching Objectives
1. To understand the historical emergence and development of environmental philosophy in general, and environmental ethics in particular, in Western societies, as well as the ways such ethics become intertwined with and influenced by developments in religion, literature, and the arts, as illuminated by the Humanities.
2. To understand the range of perspectives on human responsibility to the environment and enable critical thinking and writing about them, including by arbitrating among competing views of environmental facts.
3. To understand the epistemological bases (philosophical, scientific, religious, aesthetic) for different ethical orientations as well as the various methodological approaches to making individual and public environment-related decisions.
4. To introduce the contribution of diverse humanities disciplines, especially art history, literary criticism, philosophy, and religious studies, to illuminating environmental ethics and practice.
5. To communicate effectively and logically one’s own moral perspective and views of environmental facts and trends orally and in writing

READINGS

Many of the course readings are directly downloadable under the assignments found in the course’s Schedule section. Required readings for the course not available via this website are available from the University of Florida bookstore and elsewhere, and students are expected to purchase or otherwise gain access to these readings:

Joseph DesJardins, Environmental Ethics: An Introduction to Environmental Philosophy
(Thompson/Wadsworth, 4th edition)
Daniel Quinn, Ishmael (Bantam, 1992)

REQUIREMENTS

The Writing Requirement (Gordon Rule) promotes students fluency in writing and is reflected in the following course assignments (see 1, 3, and 4, below), and includes written work in which the instructor will evaluate and provide feedback on the student's written assignments with respect to grammar, punctuation, clarity, coherence, and organization. Feedback and evaluation of written work will be returned to students before the end of the semester, and normally no more than one week after they are due. For due dates see the course schedule

Study Guides & Reading Analysis. Students are expected to read carefully the Environmental Ethics textbook. Study guides related to it are downloadable as either a word (docx) or rich text document:
http://www.brontaylor.com/courses/ee/DesJardines-StudyGuide(s09).docx
http://www.brontaylor.com/courses/ee/DesJardines-StudyGuide(s09).rtf
During weeks when the readings are not drawn from the main text it is strongly recommended that you prepare an analysis of the readings. These are the sorts of questions you will need to be able to answer about all of the perspectives presented in the course if you are to participate effectively in classroom discussions as well as to perform well on exams and in your critical analysis papers: What are the central argument(s)? How do the author(s) build their argument(s)? What evidence do they cite? What do the authors think is at stake? With whom are the authors in contention and why? Additionally, think about the key presuppositions, strengths or weaknesses of the articles.
Examinations. There will be three exams. The final will be cumulative. These exams will typically have multiple-choice questions and fill-in sections, as well as short essay and/or take-home essay question(s). Study your study guides and classroom notes carefully in preparation for these exams. Everything that has occurred in class or that is assigned may appear on these exams.
Essay Review. You will write a 500-1000 word essay review of Ishmael (count words using your word processor's word counting feature). Analyze the book, describing its overall moral perspective and the kind of evidence provided related to this perspective. Make an argument about what you take to be the strengths and/or weaknesses in the book’s assertions.
Critical Essay. Students will write a 1,500-2,000 word critical ethical analysis of an environment-related issue. For details, see the links under the course schedule, week 9.
Attendance and participation. Students are expected to attend and participate in class -- this is part of the learning process. Students who miss the equivalent of three weeks of class will suffer a one-grade reduction; those missing more than this will fail the course. Students who distinguish themselves by contributing significantly to classroom discussions may receive extra points for doing so. Course instructors will be looking for the following: Do you demonstrate that you have read and understood the course readings and can you engage in discussions in an informed and civil manner? Do you regularly commit “fallacies of moral reasoning” as discussed early in the course? How well do you integrate what you are learning in this course with information gathered elsewhere?
Extra credit. There will normally be extra credit oportunities announced in class or via the class email list serve. These usually involve attending an event on campus or in Gainesville that engages environmental ethics. Students then will write 250-500 word essay analyzing the following: What are the central argument(s) that were being advanced? How did the individuals or groups build their argument(s)? What evidence did they cite? What do they think is at stake? With whom are those involved in contention, and why? These extra credit write ups must be turned in to the teaching assistant no later than the final exam. The points used often help students raise their grade a notch or two, e.g., from a C+ to a B- or even a B.

We will regularly arrange forums and debates and hold them in class. Although we will not award points based on the quantity of participation, regular participation will insure that we have enough experience of you to evaluate. Do not miss class.

Monitoring email and participation in email discussions. Routine course logistics will be updated through email, via a list serve established for this purpose. These email messages will be sent to your official university email address, which you are responsible to monitor every day or two. Course Instructors will also send you short supplementary materials to read and about which you may be questioned on exams. A list serve has been established for the class and students may communicate with each other and the course instructors through it. Students may ask questions via email and instructors will respond either privately or to the class, as appropriate. It is critical to check your email because, as the course progresses, the list of assignments and the readings are subject to modification. Always consult the latest version of the readings online.

EVALUATION

Points Possible for Required Assignments
This chart shows the points it is possible to earn for each assignment:

Assignment	Points per Assignment	Total Possible Points
Exams (first two)	100 points each	200
Final Exam	150 points	150
Essay/Review of Ishmael	500 minimum, 750 maximum words	50
Critical Analysis	1500 minimum, 2000 maximum words	100
	Total Possible Points:	500

Calculating Grades

After each exam, and at the end of the semester, the total number of points earned by each student will be divided by the total number earned by the highest-scoring student. The resulting percentage will be used to calculate each student’s grade for the course. Put in a formula, the approach looks like this:

the score of each individual student (your score)
(divided by) the highest score earned by a student
The percentage arrived at by means of this formula will be evaluated according to the following scale:

93%
90%
87%
83%
80%
77%
67%
60%
59%

A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
D
F

This kind of scoring is fairer than many other forms of grading because: (1) It is based on what students actually achieve rather than some preconceived standard held by the professor; (2) Each student can receive a high grade; (3) Hard-working students will not be penalized for staying in a demanding course full of industrious students. With a traditional curve, demanding courses that “weed out” less industrious students, leaving hard-working ones, can unintentionally harm good students putting them in competition with each other. This will not occur in this course. To further insure fairness, any extra credit points will be added to the individual student’s score, only after the highest score earned by a student has been established. This ensures that the extra credit earned will not increase the difficulty of the grading scale.

Course instructors reserve the right to lower or raise course grades based on classroom contributions or upon absences. We also reserve the right to change course requirements.
Late or Missing Assignments. Students who do not turn asssignments by the times specified will be penalized 10% of the possible points for that assignment for each day it is late.

Returned Assignments. At the end of the semester, unreturned course work will be available for pickup in the Religion Department office in Anderson 107 for 30 days after the official date that grades are posted by the registrar. After this time, they will be shredded to ensure privacy, and then recycled.
Academic Dishonesty. Students engaged in any form of academic dishonesty, as defined under the “Academic Misconduct” section of the Student Discipline Code, may fail the course and will be subject to other disciplinary measures.

SCHEDULE

WEEKS: January - 01 - 02 - 03 - 04 February - 05 - 06 - 07 - 08 March - 09 - 10 - 11 April - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15

Note: All readings should be completed before the class date/week under which they are listed. This schedule is subject to change, therefore, rather than printing it, bookmark and consult it regularly.
(Week 1) 5 & 10 January
Presentations: (1) introducing environmental philosophy and ethics, and John Rawls' notion of the the necessity of ‘basic facts’ in ethical reasoning, and (2) beginning our "State of the Planet Report" (Part One ~ On Growth and its Limits).
Readings: Introducing Environmental Ethics and the notion of Carrying Capacity.
Readings (required)
DesJardines, Chapter 1, “Science, Ethics & the Environment,” 1-15.
"Ethical Implications of Carrying Capacity” by Garrett Hardin (1977) [skim]
Powerpoint Lecture
Introduction & State of the Planet / Limits to Growth (powerpoint lecture #1, downloadable powerpoint lecture available for review, presented weeks 1 & 2).

Readings & Websites (recommended)
Club of Rome history

(Week 2) 12 & 19 January (both one hour classes)
Presentation: The State of the World Report ~ On limits (Part I, continued)
Readings on the types of environmental ethics, with a focus on rights and utilitarian theories.
Readings (required)
DesJardines, Chapter 2, “Ethical Theory & The Environment,” 17-39, and Chapter 5, “Responsibilities to the Natural World,” 94-118.
Websites to review
Ecological Footprint Network (Peruse the site and familiarize yourself with it. Then go to the “personal footprint” link and do the analysis there – be ready to provide (confidentially) your footprint (‘how many planets needed’) in class on Thursday.

Readings & Websites (recommended)
Peter Singer, The Animal Liberation Movement
Tom Regan, The Case for Animal Rights
(Week 3) 24 & 26 January
Presentation: The State of the World Report (Part Two: focus on biodiversity)
Readings on Aesthetics, holism and environmental ethics.
Readings (required)
DesJardines, Chapter 6, “Biocentric ethics,” 125-145, Chapter 7, “Wilderness, Ecology & Ethics, ” 148-72.
Garrett Hardin, “Carrying Capacity as an Ethical Concept” (2001)

Powerpoint Lecture
State of the Planet / biodiversity (powerpoint lecture #2, to review).
Reports to peruse (required)
United Nations Environmentlal Program, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This initiative of the United Nations was the co-recipient with former U.S. President Al Gore of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Take some time to peruse the website. Find and read the especially useful Summaries for Policymakers.
Next, search 'global warming hoax' or 'skeptics' and such words to get an idea of the contempt directed at the IPPC by its detractors.

Reports to peruse (recommended)
Living Planet Report (World Wide Fun For Nature) presents annual living planet reports; the latest can be perused and downloaded and provide excellent, synthetic reports on the status of the world's diverse species.

Readings (recommended)
Garrett Hardin, “Cultural Carrying Capacity” (1986)

An Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore), UF Library or Video Store Documentation of Climate Change (link to many sites)
(Week 4) 31 January & 2 February
Presentation: State of the world Report, Part III, toxics, climate change, and deforestation (concludes week 5).
Readings on Aldo Leopold and the Land Ethic (elders of environmental philosophy)
Discussion: Individualism v. holism: Who is morally considerable? Does individualism provide a basis for “hard cases” in environmental ethics? What are the weaknesses and strengths of holistic environmental ethics?

Readings (required)
DesJardines, Chapter 8, “The Land Ethic, ” 176-199.
Leopold, Aldo, (biography)
Aldo Leopold, from A Sand County Almanac “Forward,” “Arizona and New Mexico” (especially sub-section, “Thinking like a Mountain”), “The Round River,” “Goose Music,” and “The Land Ethic.” (Note: The Oxford University Press edition (1949/1968) does not have “Part III”, which includes the Thinking like a Mountain, Round River, and Goose Music essays. For these, see the Ballentine Books (1970) paperback edition. Also strongly recommended from the Ballentine paperback edition, read widely, esp. “A Sand County Almanac” and “Wilderness” and “Conservation Esthetic.”

Powerpoint Lecture
State of the Planet / toxics, climate & forests (powerpoint lecture #3, to review).

(Week 5) 7 & 9 February

Exam One– In Class – Wednesday 9 FEBRUARY Short answer, matching, & multiple choice exam. Closed book, no computer.
Note: Exam subject matter will be drawn exclusively from information conveyed in required readings and classroom presentations through week four.
Presentation: State of the World Report (Part III, concluded).
Readings: Pioneer-elders in environmental ethics (continued)
Readings (required)
Thoreau, Henry David (biography)
Thoreau readings, from Appendix of Dark Green Religion (2010).
Muir, John (biography)
John Muir. Read “Cedar Keys,” and “Wild Wool.” from Nature Writings. Edited by William Cronon. New York: Library of America, 1997.
Carson, Rachel (biography)
Rachel Carson, Nature Religion Selections and selections and commentary on Silent Spring. Also strongly recommended, peruse Under the Sea Wind, about which she ruminated in the hyperlinked selections, or read “Preface” and “The Marginal World” (pp. 1-7), and “The Enduring Sea” (pp. 249-50), in The Edge of the Sea (1955), or read widely from The Sea Around Us or Silent Spring (in this, her most famous book, see especially the introductory “Fable for Tomorrow” (pp. 1-3), and the concluding section, “The Other Road,” pp. 177-97, esp. its concluding two pages).
(Week 6) 14 & 16 February
Ethics presentations over the next several weeks include: “The Discipline of Ethics”, “Principles of Ethics: Rights, Justice, and Beneficence”, “Key Conundrums in Environmental Ethics” (with powerpoint presentations) and “Fallacies of Moral Reasoning” (with hyperlinked summary)\
Readings in Anti-Hierarchal Environmental Ethics: Anarchism, Social Ecology, and Ecofeminism
Readings (required)
DesJardines, Chapter 10, “Social Justice & Social Ecology,” 224-240, Chapter 11, “Ecofeminism,” 243-258.
“Anarchism” and “Social Ecology” by John Clark in the ERN
“Ecofeminism” by Laura Hobgood-Oster in the ERN

Additional Resources
Ethics Analysis Chart

Powerpoint Lectures
Discipline Of Ethics (pts 1 & 2) (powerpoint lecture, to be presented this and next week, available for review)
Discipline Of Ethics (pt 3) (powerpoint lecture, to be presented during the next few weeks, available for review)

Readings (recommended)
“What is Social Ecology” (originally 1993) and “Social versus Deep Ecology” (orig. 1987) by Murray Bookchin

Video: Wild By Law (DVD on reserve, recommended, perhaps shown in class)

(Week 7) 21 & 23 February
Readings and discussions on Deep Ecology, and Religion & Environmental Ethics

Readings (required)
DesJardines, Chapter 9, “Deep Ecology,” 202-221
ERN: Deep Ecology
Bron Taylor, ‘Religion and Environmental Ethics’ from the Encyclopedia of Religion & Nature

(Week 8) 28 February & 2 March
Readings and discussions on Radical Environmentalism.
Readings (required)
DesJardines, Chapter 9, “Deep Ecology,” 202-221.
ERN: Radical Environmentalism; Earth First! and the Earth Liberation Front.
Michael Martin, “Ecosabotage and Civil Disobedience” from Environmental Ethics 12 (Winter 1990), pp. 291-310 /
Dave Foreman with Edward Abbey and T.O. Hellenbach, Why Monkeywrench? Selections from Ecodefense, 7-23.

(Week 9) 2 & 4 March
Presentations and debates on radical and grassroots environmentalism.
Readings (required)
Daniel Quinn, Ishmael (complete by end of Spring Break and prepare essay).
Resources for Critical Essays:
Critical Essay Guidelines, and Critical Essay Topics; and Fallacies of Moral Reasoning.
7 & 9 March (Spring break ~ no class)
Readings (required)
Daniel Quinn, Ishmael (finish novel if necessary and prepare essay, see due date below)

(Week 10) 14 & 16 March

14 March: Essay on Ishmael due; last date to provide title, abstract, and sources for Critical Essays (see critical essay guidelines under week 9)
Exam Two– In Class – Wednesday, 16 March. Short answer, matching, & multiple choice exam. Closed book, no computers.

Presentations and discussion on Pragmatism and Public Lands Management.
Readings (required)
DesJardines, Chapter 3, “Ethics and Economics: Managing Public Lands,” 45-66, and Chapter 12, “Pluralism, Pragmatism, and Sustainability,” 258-269.
“Battling Religions in Parks and Forest Reserves: Facing Religion in Conflicts Over Protected Places” (with Joel Geffen), in Full Value of Parks and Protected Areas: From Economics to the Intangible, eds. D. Harmon & Allen Putney (Rowman and Littlefield, 2003), 281-94, this version in the George Wright Forum, 56-67.

Video:
The Wildlands Project or In the Light of Reverence

(Week 11) 21 & 23 March
Carrying Capacity and the ethics of procreation and consumption
Readings (required)
DesJardines, Chapter 4, “Responsibilities to Future Generations: Sustainable Development,” 70-90
Garrett Hardin, “Lifeboat ethics,” Psychology Today (1974).
Sandy Irvine, “The Cornucopia Scam: Contradictions of Sustainable Development” in Wild Earth 4 (4):72-82, Winter 94/95.
Sources to peruse (required)
Worldwatch report, 2008, scroll down and read pp. 7-23, 34-47 (perusal of the rest is recommended)
Ecofuture reports on Overpopulation and Sustainability, this includes UC professor Al Bartlett’s article,
‘Is there a population problem?’ originally in Wild Earth.

Ishmael essays returned 23 March

(Week 12) 28 & 30 March
Bioregionalism
Readings (required)
Bron Taylor, “Bioregionalism: An Ethics of Loyalty to Place,” Landscape Journal 19(1&2): 50-72, 2000.
Video: Thinking Like a Watershed (or next week)

Readings (recommended)
Wendell Berry, “Two Economies"

30 March: Mandatory summary of articles is due for your critical essay project. 4 April, next week, is the last chance to submit your critical essay draft for instructor feedback. (This is optional; be sure to carefully review the critical essay guidelines, which are located in the course schedule, under week 9).

(Week 13) 4 & 6 April
Global Issues: Triage Ethics and the Tragedy and Battle for the Commons; and Grassroots Ecological Resistance Movements
Readings (required) [This week be prepared to debate Hardin’s views from this week’s reading in contrast to those expressed by Feeney et. al., and a third and fourth from Gedick’s and Akula’s articles]
Garrett Hardin, “Tragedy of the Commons” from Science (1968). Also available in html at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/162/3859/1243. Feeney et al., “The Tragedy of the Commons: Twenty-Two Years Later” in Green Planet Blues, 53-62
Garrett Hardin responds, “The Global Pillage: Consequences of Unmanaged Commons” ch 21 from Living Within Limits “The (tuna) Tragedy of the Commons”, New York Times, 26 November 2008
ERN: “Environmental Justice and Environmental Racism” by Robert Figueroa in the ERN.
Ecological Resistance Movements, Al Gedicks, on Indigenous Environmentalism, 89-107. Ecological Resistance Movements, on Environmentalism in India, Vikram Akula, 127-144
Readings (recommended)
The Ecologist, Whose Common Future?: Reclaiming the Commons (Philadelphia: New Society, 1994), ch 1-2 & 6 Many other articles by Hardin or related to his views are at the Garrett Hardin Society website.

Podcast and websites on Climate Change (recommended)
Canadian Broadcasting System “Climate Wars” (mp3s), Part1, Part2, Part3. Series based on Gwynne Dyer’s Climate Wars (2008).
The Rock Ethics Institute has a valuable website focusing on Climate Ethics.

Video
Lacandona: The Zapatistas and the rainforest of Chiapas, Mexico (26m/bt)

(Week 14) 11 & 13 April
Critical Essay due 13 April (see the critical essay guidelines in the scheule, above, week 9. Do not forget to include the title, abstract, and sources assignments, that were due earlier and returned to you).

The Great Debate: Which Environmental Philosophy Makes the most Sense?
Readings (required)
Theodore Kaczynski, ”Industrial Society and Its Future."
Bron Taylor, “Deep Ecology and its Social Philosophy: A Critique,” in Beneath the Surface: Critical Essays on Deep Ecology. Eds. E. Katz. A. Light, D. Rothenberg (Boston: MIT Press, 2000), 269-299.
Bryan Norton & Ben Minteer, "From environmental ethics to environmental public philosophy: ethicists and economists, 1973-future," in T. Tietenberg adn H. Folmer (eds.) The International Yearbook of Environmental and Resource Economics 2002/2003 (Edward Elgan, 2002).
Readings (recommended)
Robert Paelke’s Environmentalism and the Future of Progressive Politics (Yale U.P, 1989), 273-283 (on reserve)
Martin Lewis, Green Delusions (Duke U.P., 1992), p. 150-90 & 242-51.

Critical Essays Returned April 20

(Week 15) 18 & 20 April (last scheduled class)
Social Philosophy and Environmental Futures: How should we structure livelihoods, communities, nations, and international relations? Is religion the solution or one of the key problems?
Readings (required) [This week be prepared to discuss Taylor’s “Green Future” article, constrasting it with other perspectives in the class]
Bron Taylor, “A Green Future for Religion?” Futures Journal 36:991-1008, 2004
Video (required) Listen to Sam Harris's "Ted Talk," Science Can Answer Moral Values, in which he argues, contrary to those who argue one cannot get a value from a fact, that objective moral truth can be deduced from facts, including those derived from science. His ethical benchmark is that of concern for the well being of conscious living beings, and he contends that we can know from the facts what the well being for conscious beings entails, and when we are closer or further from the conditions in which conscious beings can and will flourish. Listen to his talk and consider its implications for environmental ethics, and possible social and environmental futures.
The final exam will be Monday, April 25th, 5:30 to 7:30 pm, in our regular lecture hall, Florida Gym, Room 280.

Resources

Writing Well
Joshua Sowin's 'A guide to writing well'
Bron Taylor's Writing Well Guide

Outline Articles
‘Environmental Ethics’ (by Andrew Brennan and Yeuk-Sze Lo) in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Video
Websites
Academic Organizations and initiatives involved in Environmental Ethics:
The International Society for Environmental Ethics (ISEE)
International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture
International Association for Environmental Philosophy (IAEP)
Center for Environmental Philosophy
Centre for Applied Ethics
Environmental Ethics (Journal)
Environmental Values (Journal)
Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale University
Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture

Additional resources, such as links to podcasts, music, slideshows, video, music, and websites, will be made available here during the course. Students are encouraged to send their own ideas for resources to the course instructors.

Feel free to read ahead in the DesJardines textbook, if you wish, following the previous syllabus.
Both required textbooks will be the same: Joseph Des Jardins, Environmental Ethics: An Introduction to Environmental Philosophy (Thompson/Wadsworth, 4th edition), and Daniel Quinn, Ishmael (Bantam, 1992).