Course Description
Introduction to issues in environmental philosophy and policy. Issues include environmental law and policy evaluation, population, economic efficiency, and environmental flourishing. The focus will be on the relevance of environmental values for our choices, our lives, and for the kinds of persons we should strive to become.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students are required to pass an oral exam administered
by two EECP faculty members that shows extensive integration and
synthesis of the class materials with their individual
environmental ethic. The oral exam also includes a review of
their primary research topic on a level consistent with the higher
standards of scholarship and research that guide the Graduate
School.
Athena Title
ENV VALUES & POLICY
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in EETH 3230
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Students will: *Master and evaluate basic concepts in value theory and policy analysis. *Analyze and evaluate central texts and arguments in environmental philosophy.
Topical Outline
The course will be divided into sections including some of the following: Section 1: Environmental philosophy and values. The section will consider classic texts in environmental philosophy. Students will encounter a variety of different accounts of the values relevant to environmental policy and ethics, including some of the following: Aldo Leopold, Lynn White, Arne Naess, Karen Warren, Dale Jamieson, Baird Callicott, Holmes Rolston, Christopher Stone, and others. Section 2: Human/Economic Development and Environmental Protection. In this section we will read some contemporary papers on development ethics, as well as papers on the supposed conflict between human development and environmental protection. These will include Martha Chen, Martha Nussbaum, Nigel Dower, Geoffrey Hunt, Robin Attfield, and Ramachandra Guha. Section 3: This section will consider the legal and moral standing of animals, future generations, and the environment. Readings will include some of the following: Peter Singer, Tom Regan, Bryan Norton, Herman Daly, Robert Elliot, Avner deShallit, Joel Feinberg, and Clark Wolf. Section 4: Human Population Growth. Many people regard the growth of human population as the most serious environmental problem. Readings will include some of the following: Thomas Malthus, Julian Simon, Paul Ehrlich, Derek Parfit, Amartya Sen, and Partha Dasgupta.