Columbia University Spring Term 1999
RELI W 4530 M, W 10:35-11:50am
Environmental Ethics
Instructor: Richard C. Foltz e-mail: rcf23@columbia.edu
Office: Kent 613 phone: (85)4-3738
Office Hours: T, Th 1-2:30pm
Course Description: Reading and discussion of contemporary debates about values pertaining to the natural environment.
Open to undergraduates and graduates.
Course Requirements: (written work to be typed, double-spaced)
1) attendance and participation in class discussions (readings must be done before class meets) -20%
2) weekly reaction/response papers on assigned readings (1 p., due every Wed. or on day of discussion) - 30%
3) group presentation - 20%
4) final paper (10 pp. for undergraduates, 15-20 pp. for graduates; present 1 page topic proposal to instructor by March 1) - 30 %
Required Books:
David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous, New York: Vintage Press, 1996.
Daniel C. Maguire and Larry L. Rasmussen, Ethics for a Small Planet, Albany: SUNY Press, 1998.
Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith, eds., The Case Against the Global Economy and For a Turn Toward the Local, San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1996.
Louis P. Pojman, ed., Environmental Ethics, 2nd ed., Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1998.
Required for specified group, optional for others:
Bill Devall and George Sessions, Deep Ecology, Salt Lake City: Peregrine Smith, 1985 (group 2).
James Lovelock, The Ages of Gaia, New York: Norton, 1988 (group 3).
Carolyn Merchant, Earthcare, New York: Routledge, 1993 (group 5 only).
Peter Singer, Animal Liberation, New York: Avon, 1975 (group 1).
Edward O. Wilson, The Diversity of Life, New York: Norton, 1992 (group 4).
All books are available at Labyrinth.
Course Outline
Jan. 20 (Wed). Introduction: the Nature of the Environmental Crisis.
For the first two discussions only we will divide into two sections. Your reaction paper is due on the day your section meets.
Jan. 25 (Mo). Discussion of White. (Section A)
readings:
Pojman, ed., Environmental Ethics, pp. 13-30.
begin reading Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous.
Jan. 27 (Wed). Discussion of White. (Section B)
Feb. 1 (Mo). Discussion of Abram. (Section A)
reading:
finish Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous.
Feb. 3 (Wed). Discussion of Abram. (Section B)
Feb. 8 (Mo). Does Nature Have Intrinsic Value?
readings:
Pojman, ed., Environmental Ethics, pp. 70-92.
Feb. 10 (Wed). Biocentric and Ecocentric Ethics.
readings:
Pojman, ed., Environmental Ethics, pp. 93-133.
Feb. 15 (Mo). Group 1 presentation on Singer, Animal Liberation..
readings:
Pojman, ed., Environmental Ethics, pp. 39-51.
Feb. 17 (Wed). Discussion on Animal Rights.
Feb. 22 (Mo). Group 2 presentation on Devall and Sessions, Deep Ecology.
readings:
Pojman, ed., Environmental Ethics, pp. 134-172.
Feb. 24 (Wed). Discussion on Deep Ecology.
Mar. 1 (Mo). Group 3 presentation on Lovelock, The Ages of Gaia. Final paper proposals due.
readings:
Pojman, ed., Environmental Ethics, pp. 190-202.
Mar. 3 (Wed). Discussion on the Gaia Theory.
Mar. 8 (Mo). Group 4 presentation on Wilson, The Diversity of Life.
readings:
Pojman, ed., Environmental Ethics, pp. 204-246.
Mar. 10 (Wed). Discussion on Biodiversity and Preservation.
Mar. 13-21. Spring Break.
Mar. 22 (Mo). Globalization and its Effects.
readings:
Mander and Goldsmith, eds., The Case Against the Global Economy, pp. 3-179.
Mar. 24 (Wed). Non-Western Perspectives on the Environment.
readings:
Pojman, ed., Environmental Ethics, pp. 248-275.
B.D Sharma, On Sustainability, in Michael Tobias and Georgianne Cowan, eds., The Soul of Nature, New York: Plume, 1996, pp. 271-278.
Mar. 29 (Mo). Group 5 presentation on Merchant, Earthcare.
readings:
Rosemary Radford Reuther, Ecofeminism: Symbolic and Social Connections of the Oppression of Women and the Domination of Nature, in Roger S. Gottlieb, ed., This Sacred Earth, New York: Routledge, 1996, pp. 322-333.
Pojman, ed., Environmental Ethics, pp. 173-188.
Mar. 31 (Wed). Discussion on Ecofeminism.
Apr. 5 (Mo). Population.
readings:
Pojman, ed., Environmental Ethics, pp. 297-348.
Apr. 7 (Wed). World Hunger.
readings:
Pojman, ed., Environmental Ethics, pp. 349-377.
Apr. 12 (Mo). Pollution, Pesticides, and Hazardous Waste.
readings:
Pojman, ed., Environmental Ethics, pp. 378-430, 447-492.
Apr 14 (Wed). Climate Change.
readings:
Pojman, ed., Environmental Ethics, pp. 431-446.
Apr. 19 (Mo). Group presentation 6 on The Case Against the Global Economy, pp. 183-296.
readings:
Pojman, ed., Environmental Ethics, pp. 494-565.
Apr. 21 (Wed). Discussion on Economics and Development.
April 26 (Mo). Towards a Shift in Values.
readings:
Maguire and Rasmussen, Ethics for a Small Planet.
Apr. 28 (Wed). Towards a Shift in Practice.
readings:
Mander and Goldsmith, eds., The Case Against the Global Economy, pp. 393-514.
May 3 (Mo). Concluding Discussion. Final paper due in class.
Reaction/Response Paper Guidelines
These weekly papers are to be one page each, EXACTLY, no more and no less (double-spaced, 12-point font, preferably Times New Roman). This means you will have to EDIT. The assignment is to compose a polished, crafted, thoughtful, and concise statement of observation and opinion, in dialogue with the assigned reading. Make a point and develop it. Mechanical errors of spelling or grammar indicate haste or laziness and should not occur. Do not take these assignments lightly: your interaction with the readings is the most important aspect of this course.
Grading criteria are as follows:
A clear, concise, original and insightful, free of factual or grammatical errors
B sound work, shows that the reading has been understood and absorbed
C fails to meet stated criteria in one or more significant ways
no grade unacceptable; re-write if you wish to receive credit for this assignment
In short, a C grade means try harder next time; a B means youre getting the material; an A is a special pat on the back.