htmSYLLABUS

E50.2019: Foundations of Environmental Thought

Fall 2003, New York University

Instructor: Andrew Light, Assistant Professor of Environmental Philosophy

Office: 246 Greene Street, Room 314E (floor 3R)

Office Hours: Wednesday 1:00-4:00pm and by appointment.

Phone and messages: 212-998-5636

E-mail: andrew.light@nyu.edu

Texts: Wilderness and the American Mind, Roderick Nash (WAM)

Walden, Henry David Thoreau (McKibben, ed.) (W)

Man and Nature, George Perkins Marsh (Lowenthal, ed.) (MN)

Nature Writings, John Muir (Library of America) (NW)

A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold (SCA)

Losing Ground: American Environmentalism at the Close

of the 20th Century, Mark Dowie (LG)

The Bulldozer in the Countryside, Adam Rome (BC)

Recommended texts (not ordered for class but suggested for further reading):

The Idea of Wilderness, Max Oelschlaeger (Yale UP, 1993). Broad-

based history of wilderness as a concept in Western thought.

Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900,

Alfred Crosby (Cambridge UP, 1993). Interesting, broad history of

biological colonialism.

The Environmental Imagination: Thoreau, Nature Writing, and the

Formation of American Culture, Lawrence Buell (Harvard UP,

1995). Overview of role of Thoreau and environmental imagination in formation of environmental literature and.

George Perkins Marsh: Prophet of Conservation, David Lowenthal

(Washington, 2003). Seminal biography of Marsh.

Gifford Pinchot and the Making of Modern Environmentalism, Char

Miller (Island Press, 2001). Recent work on Muir’s greatest rival, challenging idea of Pinchot as a crude “preservationist.”

Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work, Curt Meine (Wisconsin, 1988).

Excellent biography of Leopold.

The Rights of Nature, Roderick Nash (Wisconsin, 1989). Relatively

early, but classic, history of environmental ethics in relation to

the broader history of environmental thought.

The Skeptical Environmentalist, Bjorn Lomborg (Cambridge UP, 2001).

Recent, highly critical work on claims of environmentalists.

The Land that Could Be, William Shutkin (MIT, 2000). Strong

challenge to wilderness orthodoxy in North American

environmentalism with a focus on urban issues.

Earth in Mind, David Orr (Island Press, 1994). Seminal work on

environmental education.

Summary of Class and Requirements:

There are two general aspects to this course. First, it is designed as a survey of some of the classic or foundational literature in the American environmental tradition. You may or may not have read some of these works before – we will read them again. The importance of this tradition is immense, not only for the American strain of environmentalism and American culture, but also for its place and influence in international environmental consciousness. It is also important in its representation of an alternative and critical American tradition to counterbalance current tendencies some see in American culture, politics, values, and moral inquiry. To understand this historical strain is not simply to understand history for history’s sake, but to remind ourselves of who we are, where we want to go, and what our relation to our environment and each other is and could be.

Second, the course is also designed as a general historical and practical study of the idea of wilderness, the birth and growth of environmentalism in relation to that idea, and the question of where we might go from our present situation. This course aims to provide a basic background in normative environmental thought as well as to raise some of the basic philosophical questions regarding environmental issues. This course is required for the M.A. in Environmental Conservation Education, NYU’s M.A. program in environmental studies.

As this is a graduate seminar, the course will be mainly discussion based. Students will write two papers (approximately ten-fifteen pages), one on an assigned topic in the seventh week of the seminar and one on a topic of their choice at the end of the semester, due during finals week. The topic of the second paper must be given prior approval by the instructor. No exceptions will be made to this rule. A paper turned in that has not been granted written approval will be given a mark of 0. Each participant should provide the instructor with a written summary of the topic of this paper by the twelfth week of the seminar. Participants may also provide rough drafts of the final paper to the instructor for comments and suggestions for improvements up to one week prior to the final due date of the paper.

In addition to completing these papers, each participant will be required to prepare written questions or commentaries on the readings assigned for that week. These commentaries should raise a substantive issue about some part of the reading. You should focus your commentary on as specific an issue as is possible. Aim for a half a page to one and a half pages. These questions will periodically be taken up during class without prior notice and graded.

When taken up these questions will be given a grade of E (excellent), P (passing), S (satisfactory), or U (unsatisfactory). The grades for the questions will be averaged and applied to the initial course grade from the papers on the following scale: if the average grade is an E, the initial grade for the class will be raised by two steps (e.g., from C to

B-) to produce the final grade for the course; if P, the initial grade for the class will be raised one step (e.g., from D+ to C-); if S, the initial grade for the class will not be changed; if U, the initial grade for the class will be lowered by one step (e.g., from C to C-).

Appeals of any grades must be made in writing (typed), providing a detailed argument for why a grade should be increased. Any work found to be plagiarized will be given a mark of 0 and disciplinary action will be taken. Late work will not be accepted.

Reading Schedule (Subject to Change)

S02: Introduction to Seminar.

S09: Nash, WAM Prologue and Chapters 1-4.

S16: Nash, WAM Chapter 5; Thoreau, W McKibben intro and “Economy”

(pp. 1-73).

S23: Thoreau, W pp. 76-93, 122-157, 265-312.

S30: Marsh, MN Chapters 1-2.

O07: Nash, WAM Chapter 8; Muir, NW “My First Summer in the Sierra,” pp. 153-240.

Midterm Assignment Made

O14: Muir, NW “Summer in Sierra” continued, pp. 241-309. Also, “Wild Wool,” “God’s First Temples,” “The Wild Parks,” and “Save the Redwoods.”

Midterm Paper Due

O21: Nash, WAM Chapter 11; Leopold, SCA Part III, all.

O28: Dowie, LG Chapters 1-3.

N04: Dowie, LG Chapters 4-6.

N11: Dowie, LG Chapters 7-8.

N18: No Class; Final Paper Topics Due.

N25: Rome, BC Chapters 1-4.

D02: Rome, BC Chapters 5-7 and conclusion.

D12: Final Paper Due