This course is an introduction to philosophical ethics as applied to
environmental policy. Both personal, professional and public ethics will be
explored. The major issues in environmental ethics will be discussed.
This is a distance class, which will be conducted on the Web through this
On-Line site and through E-mail. Students will be advised about technical
issues the first week of class. Keep in mind, this is a new experience for
students and teachers alike and we'll all learn more if we use patience.
Objectives: Overall, this class is basically different from a
lecture-hall class. The learning is more or less entirely up to the student;
the instructor merely acts as a facilitator to the students learning. The
student can explore as much or as little of the material as they wish for their
own development. However, students will be expected to demonstrate significant
learning in the major areas. As the course progresses, the instructor will
provide additional information to assist the students. The major objectives
are:
1. To gain an understanding of the field of moral philosophy as it appertains to environmental ethics.
2. To gain an understanding of the context of environmental, personal and professional ethics in public policy.
3. To become familiar with the use of ethical theory in environmental policy analysis.
4. To understand the major applications of ethics to environmental policy.
5. To be introduced to some of the major alternatives in ethical theory in environmental policy.
6. To be able to incorporate environmental ethics into professional
judgments in environmental policy.
The focus of this course is on learning, not instruction. Learners have many
different styles and learning needs. In response to these learning needs this
course is designed to focus on "producing learning" and learning
opportunities rather than "providing instruction." As a result,
students will be guided and supported in their learning, but the responsibility
is borne by the student to demonstrate learning. The specific details of the
learning are entirely up to the student's interests, background, world
experience, and future career orientation. The instructor is secondary to this
process (a fact which can be a bitter pill for a lofty Professor use to
imparting his/her years of wisdom, not to mention witty asides, hilarious
stories and piercing analytical abilities; all intended to impress students on
how far below him/her in knowledge, skill and, in all likelihood, innate intelligence
they really are). The instructor is no longer a gatekeeper at the temple of
knowledge, he/she is more of a dusty receptionist who takes the student where
they ask to go without judgment, but out of curiosity and with the genuine
desire to be a colleague in the learning process, not a priest(ess).
So! What shall we do? We will conduct our class "on-line." This
means that most of the usual discussion, questions, answers, dialogues, and
interchanges will occur on the computer at DU through this on-line site.
Instructor (link to next page)
<a href=http://www.du.edu/~sbissell/> Dr. Steven Bissell</a> was the Head of Environmental Education for the <a href=http://wildlife.state.co.us/> Colorado Division of Wildlife</a>. He has worked for more than 20 years as a Wildlife Conservation Officer, Non-game and Endangered Species Biologist, Land Use Coordinator and Human Dimensions/ Responsive Management Coordinator for the state of Colorado. He has a BS from the University of Utah in Environmental Biology, an MS in Zoology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Denver in Public Administration. His doctoral dissertation was "Ethical Issues in State Wildlife Policy: A Qualitative Analysis." He is the past chairperson of the Responsive Management Board of Directors, a non-profit program of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. He is an Associate Faculty member at the University of Denver, teaching Environmental Policy Analysis and, Environmental Values and Ethics in the Environmental Policy and Management program. He is also adjunct faculty at <a href=http://www.colostate.edu/> Colorado State University</a> in the <a href+http://www.cnr.colostate.edu/NRRT/> Department of Tourism and Natural Resources</a> and Associate Editor of the journal <a href=http://www.cnr.colostate.edu/NRRT/hdnr/wildlifejournal.htm> Human Dimensions in Wildlife</a>. He has conducted qualitative research projects for several state agencies and non-government organizations. He is Senior Associate for Qualitative Research at <a href=http://responsivemanagement.com/> Responsive Management</a>, a private consulting firm specializing in wildlife management issues.
Phone: 970-613-0692. Office hours by appointment only. E-mail:
mailto:sbissell@du.edu
Each student should select a book or journal article from the suggested
reading list or one approved by the instructor. The student will then write a short
(less than five page) critical review of the book or article. A critical
review is one in which the student will analyze the subject content from a
specific point of view. For example, a book on animal rights could be
critically analyzed from an economic model. Each student should apply his or
her own expertise to an environmental ethic topic. Any questions should be
addressed by the instructor prior to writing the review. You must include appropriate
literature citations other than the assigned texts. Please consult a standard
style manual for citations. The proper use of outside citations will be a
significant factor in grading. There are sites for style on the
instructor's home page. You may also select a Web Site, which is related to
Environmental Ethics or Environmental Policy, and critique the site. This is
something new to the instructor, so there is little precedent. However, you
will be expected to document your critique in the same manner as a written
article or book critique.
Note: Because of recent experience, the instructor does not want
anyone to critique Gore's Earth in the Balance. For some reason everyone
wants to critique this book and no one does it well. Please pick something else
to critique, but read Gore's book for your own edification.
The student may elect to write a short (less than five page) essay on any
environmental policy topic as long as the essay is written as an ethical
analysis. The topic of the
essay must be approved by the instructor. The student should write a
one-paragraph description of the topic and have it approved by the instructor
by the second or third meeting.
All written assignments are expected to be professional. An appropriate
style should be followed. Please consult a style manual and follow a
single format for literature citations. You may use endnotes, footnotes, or
author and date style, but please be consistent. Grades will consider
style, economy of language, spelling, punctuation, grammar and presentation as
well as content. Written assignments are intended to demonstrate the studentŐs
professional development as well as understanding of course material.
The issue of citations and length of assignments always comes up. Citations
mean specific references to published books, articles in the scientific
literature or web sites. Newspaper articles, popular magazines and such are
usually not acceptable. You should include at least two citations in
each answer or critique/paper. The intent here is for you to go to the library
or on the Internet and research your answers or papers. As to length, the
instructor has attended six different universities and has three college
degrees; fooling around with margins and spacing will not go unnoticed. All
papers should be about four or five pages, standard double space, one-inch
margins.
The entire exam is already posted on the Web site. There is no order to the exam, you may submit any exam question when you wish. The exam should be self explanatory, but there are several issues. Each exam question must have appropriate citations in an commonly accepted style. Please consult a style manual, select one, and be consistent. Each exam should be clearly labeled, have a title so that I know who you are and which question is being answered. I allow rewrites on all material up until the end of the quarter, exact dates will be posted.
There will be a discussion group set up for the class and students will be
graded on their participation in the group. All students should find a protocol
for discussion groups and learn the major points. Major infractions of Internet
procedure, such as "flaming" will count against the student and good
use, i.e. reference to other sites or material gathered elsewhere on the Web
will be rewarded. Each week I will post a topic to be discussed, but students
can start their own threads if they wish. Just observe common rules of Web use.
Grades will be based upon,
Internet Participation 30 pts.
Book or article critique or essay 30 pts
Quizzes 40 pts
Incomplete grades must be arranged with the instructor by the middle of the quarter. The grade of incomplete is difficult for the instructor and will not be given unless there are extreme circumstances.
Students begin any assignment with all of the available points. I then deduct points for spelling errors, grammatical errors, incomplete sentences, run-on sentences and such routine flaws. I do this because I expect students to be turning in work that they would submit on a job as part of a formal policy analysis or report. Common errors such as these make such reports weaker and diminish the impact of the work. I deduct two or more points for out-and-out mistakes, such as attributing a statement t or idea to someone incorrectly, or the mis-use of a quotation. I am especially hard on mistakes in the citations. I expect that the citations will be properly used and will be in proper style. I also deduct multiple points for written assignments that are too short or, more rarely, too long. The approximate number of pages is always given with an assignment and should be followed.
I do not grade on a curve. Each student is ranked against his or her own ability. Grades are as follows:
90-100 points = A. (I do not give A- unless the student has consistently preformed on the margin or if I feel I have had to stretch to give them points. This is because the grade of A+ is usually not available to me and I think an A- is being somewhat miserly.)
87-89 points = B+
84-86 points = B
80-83 points = B-
77-79 points = C+
74-76 points = C
70-73 points = C-
Grades below a C- are generally not acceptable to the Department. I will
generally counsel a student to take an "incomplete" if their work is
so bad as to be in risk of such a low grade. These are Graduate level classes
and students who are not prepare d to do work in the A/B range should
reconsider their options.
All students are strongly urged to get a copy of:
Aldo Leopold. 1949. A
Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There. Oxford University Press.
Highly suggested texts are highlighted.
Armstrong and Botzler (editors). 1993. Environmental Ethics: Divergence
and Convergence. McGraw-Hill.
Donald VanDeVeer and Christine Pierce (editors) 1994. The Environmental
ethics and Policy Book: Philosophy, Ecology, Economics. Wadsworth
Publishing.
Pojman (editor). 1994. Environmental Ethics: Readings in Theory and
Application. Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Rolston 1988. Environmental ethics: Duties to and values in the natural world. Temple University Press.
Attfeld and Belsey, (editors) Philosophy and the Natural Environment.
Cambridge.
Bormann and Kellert (editors) Ecology, Economics, Ethics: The Broken
Circle. Yale.
Cooper and Palmer (editors) The Environment in Question. Routledge.
Engel and Engel (editors) Ethics of Environment and Development: Global
Challenge and International Response. Arizona.
Ferre and Hartel (editors) Ethics and Environmental Policy: Theory Meets
Practice. Georgia.
Gruen and Jamieson (editors) Reflecting on Nature: Readings in
Environmental Philosophy. Oxford.
List (editor) Radical Environmentalism: Philosophy and Tactics.
Wadsworth.
Newton and Dillingham. Watersheds: Classic Cases in Environmental Ethics.
Wadsworth.
Pojman (editor) Environmental Ethics: Readings in Theory and Application.
Jones and Bartlett.
Rolston Conserving Natural Value Columbia University Press.
Scherer (editor) Upstream/Downstream: Issues in Environmental Ethics.
Temple.
Sterba (editor) Earth Ethics: Environmental Ethics, Animal Rights, and
Practical Applications. Prentice-Hall.
Westphal and Westphal (editors) Planet in Peril: Essays in Environmental
Ethics. Harcourt Brace.
Zimmerman et al. (editors) Environmental Philosophy: From Animal Rights
to Radical Ecology. Prentice-Hall.
Elliot (editor)1995. Environmental Ethics. Oxford University Press.
Murphy 1994. Rationality & Nature: A sociological inquiry into a
changing relationship. Westview Press.
Soule and Lease (editors) 1995. Reinventing Nature?: Responses to postmodern deconstruction. Island Press.
There are several journals I suggest you become familiar with. Environmental
Ethics(http://www.cep.unt.edu/) should become a primary source for you.
Another is Environmental Values. There are several others, such as Environmental
History, and Between the Species which are less generalized, but
worth finding. The newsletter for the International Society for Environmental Ethics
is a good source to recent publications. There is an extensive bibliography at
the Environmental Ethics Web Site: (http://www.cep.unt.edu/ISEE.html) which the
students should begin to explore. This site also provides links to other sites
of interest. Any article on this bibliography is acceptable for the review.
The Altavistia Search engine
HotBot; A Wired Magazine search engine
Infoseek
Magellen
Excite
Net Search
Walker/MLA Style Sheet
APA-Internet Citing
The Code of Federal Regulations
The Library of Congress search page
Some useful links:
University of Denver Home Page
University of Denver "Find
It!" Page
Mailing Lists Rules and Information
Segment 1: Introduction to ethical theory. A general discussion of
the major fields of moral theory. The distinction between personal,
professional and public ethics will be discussed. The modern and post-modern
paradigm of scientific reductionism will be examined.
Segment 2: A review of general philosophical ethics. A discussion of
how ethics in general relates to environmental policy analysis. A discussion of
homocentric, biocentric and ecocentric theory to environmental policy.
Segment 3: Applications of ethics to environmental policy. Discussion
of how to apply ethical theory to environmental issues. An historical review of
ethics in environmental policy. Animal rights, ecofeminism, deep ecology, and
social ecology.
Segment 4: The application of moral theory to ecology and ecology to
moral theory. Ecology and ethics in environmental policy. Can there be a monist
theory of environmental ethics?
Segment 5: This discussion summarizes the course. A discussion of the land ethic. A general discussion of the application of ethical theory to environmental policy. Environmental activism and the role of personal ethics in environmental policy.