Philosophy 480/680 – Advanced Environmental Ethics: - Fall 2004

Sustainability

Dr. Michael P. Nelson

m2nelson@uwsp.edu

Office: 416 CCC (346-3907)

Office Hours: 1-1:50 MTR, and by appointment

OBJECTIVE - This course will be an in-depth exploration of the meaning and relevance of the concept of sustainability.

TEXTS

Purchase:

Lisa Newton, Ethics and Sustainability: Sustainable Development and the Moral Life (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2003).

Other reading will be placed on e-reserve.

REQUIREMENTS

Students will be expected to participate regularly and take an active role in classroom discussions. Students will also be responsible for more formal presentations in-class and leading classroom discussions.

Students will be expected to prepare writing assignments on a regular (weekly) basis. The single lowest grade on those papers will be dropped; no late papers will be accepted. The majority of the grade will be determined by a substantial term paper (i.e., roughly 10-12 pages).

Students will be expected to do all of the reading and attend all of the classes. Failure here will result in failure in the above requirements. (Note: any student missing more than 3 sessions of the class will automatically receive a failing grade for the class)

Attendance and Participation = Approx. 25%

Small Writing Assignments = Approx. 25%

Term Paper = Approx. 50%

Graduate students enrolled in 680 will be expected to perform at a graduate level and write a more substantial (and graduate level) final paper.

Because this is a writing emphasis class, your work will be evaluated both for content and for writing effectiveness. For help with philosophical writing I will distribute a handout “Writing a Philosophy Paper.” Roughly there are three levels of philosophical writing. I will expect your daily papers to be at a beginning level. Your final paper will be at the intermediate level. Advanced writing generally occurs at the graduate and professional levels for the purpose of publication.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

September 7 – Introduction

September 14 – American Indian Models(?)

Reading: Shepard Krech “The Hohokam.”

September 21 – The Brundtland Report.

Reading: Our Common Future, “Overview,” pp. 1-23; J. Baird Callicott “The Implication of the “Shifting Paradigm” in Ecology for Paradigm Shifts in the Philosophy of Conservation.”

September 28 – No Class

October 5 – The Brundtland Report, cont

Reading: Our Common Future, “Chapters 1 and 2,” pp. 27-65; David N. Bengston and David C. Iverson, “Reconstructuring Conservation in an Age of Limits: An Ecological Economics Perspective.”

October 12 – Guest Lecture – William G. Gartner

Reading: TBA

October 19 – Ethics and Sustainability

Reading: Lisa Newton Ethics and Sustainability, preface, introduction, Chapter 1, pp. ix-46.

October 26 – Ethics and Sustainability

Reading: Lisa Newton Ethics and Sustainability, Chapter 2, pp. 47-77.

November 2 – Ethics and Sustainability

Reading: Lisa Newton Ethics and Sustainability, Chapter 3, pp. 78-111.

November 9 – No class

November 16 – A Positive Account / In-class Presentations

Reading: Lester Brown, Christopher Flavin, and Sandra Postel “A Vision of a Sustainable World.”

November 23 – Critique of Sustainability / In-class Presentations

Reading: Donald Worster “The Shaky Ground of Sustainable Development.”

November 30- Critique, cont. / In-class Presentations

Reading: Julianne Lutz Newton “Sustainability: A Dissent.”

December 7 – Critique, cont. / In-class Presentations

Reading: Curt Meine “Conservation Biology and Sustainable Societies.”

December 14 – Closing / In-class Presentations

Reading: Currently open.

GRADING SCALE - Conversion from numerical to letter grade: 95-100=A; 90-94=A-; 87-89=B+; 84-86=B; 80-83=B-; 77-79=C+; 74-76=C; 70-73=C-; 67-69=D+; 63-66=D; 0-62=F.