Environmental Ethics at MTSU

Note: Environmental Ethics in Fall 2012 at MTSU will be listed in the catalog as PHIL 4800, Readings in Philosophy: Environmental Ethics. Now that the curriculum committee has formally approved the course, however, in subsequent offerings in the future it will be listed as PHIL 3340. -JPO

PHILOSOPHY            PHIL                   3340                     Environmental Ethics                     3.0

A.      Course description and objectives

1. Description. This course examines the relation of humans to the rest of nature,            clarifying the relevant ethical issues and exploring from various perspectives their application to present and future ecological concerns. The “environment” includes not only physical nature, climate, and the food chain (etc.) but our various cultural habitats as well. The course is thus concerned in the broadest sense with all the conditions and prospects of life for our species and others, in sustainable relation to the universe.

            More specifically, the course considers questions of water and air quality, erosion,          pollution, climate change, the disposal of waste and the toxic byproducts of   industrialism, and other human impacts on wildlife.  

            The question of sustainability is itself in need of critical reflection and clarification,         addressed in the course by the questions of whether it should be our aim to sustain life in ways that minimize the human presence and “footprint” with respect to the rest of  nature, and whether there can be a fixed and ahistorical definition of what sustainability  means.

2. Objectives. The course compares many approaches to this urgent human preoccupation,  in order to articulate the extent of our mutual and collective obligations to one another and to other species and our obligations  to the ecosystem at large (including our descendants) in sustaining the conditions of life.  Other objectives include providing insight into the ongoing debate over the human “footprint” and whether it has been deleterious to the planet and its non-human inhabitants, and into the specific changes of lifestyle, consumer behavior, etc. that may be ethically required of us in order to preserve life on earth in the near and long-term future. Thus,

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to meet these objectives:

1.    Articulate the extent of humans’ mutual and collective obligations to one another and to other species.
2.    Identify humans’ obligations to the ecosystem at large (including our descendants) in sustaining the conditions of life.
3.    Participate in the ongoing debate over the human “footprint” and determine whether it has been deleterious to the planet and its non-human inhabitants.
4.    Identify the specific changes of lifestyle, consumer behavior, etc. that may be ethically required of us in order to preserve life on earth in the near and long-term future.
5.    Identify and use critical resources and tools they can apply as responsible biotic citizens.

Outline of Course Topics

•    The meaning of “nature” and “environment” (meets objectives 1 and 3)
•    Sustainability and the human impact (meets objectives 2 and 4)
•    Coping with climate change (meets objective 4 and 5)
•    Water, air, and land conservation (meets objective 5)
•    Industrial pollution, waste, and the consumer ethos (meets objectives 2 and 4 )
•    Human cultures as a part of nature (meets objectives 2 and 3 )
•    Food choices and the environment (meets objective 4)
•    Native and indigenous perspectives (meets objectives 1 and 3)

B.      Course Justification

1.      The new environmental ethics course will integrate and broaden important themes previously addressed in a scattered variety of courses, including most recently (Spring'11) one which focused on the native environmental wisdom of indigenous peoples. Like them, it will be popular with an impressively diverse, cross-disciplinary  array of students. The topic, controversial for some and of vital importance for all, is timely and of universal concern.

2.      It is arguable that the environmental challenges of our time constitute the greatest perceptible threat to the survival of our civilization. The future of life hangs in the balance of the ethical choices we must make, bearing directly on how we should and must  discharge our lives on Earth responsibly. In this light, the course is justified by its role in  preparing students to make those choices.

3. The course complements our history of philosophy sequence and the perennial concern  of philosophers with the the central question of ethics and, some would say, of life itself: how shall we live? It complements many other university courses including those in environmental studies and the life sciences.

4. The overall efforts of the philosophy department, the College of Liberal Arts, and the   university to educate faculty and students about the pressing environmental issues of our time and engage them effectively will be well served by the course. One example: “MTSU’s Environmental Health & Safety Office is working on a joint effort with the Center for Environmental Education’s Waterworks program to educate faculty, staff and students about the stormwater program on campus.  Waterworks is also working with the City of Murfreesboro to educate the residents and employees of the City of Murfreesboro. “ The environmental ethics course addresses several topics  targeted by this university initiative.

The course will also complement the “Environment and Human Society” and “Environment, Science, and Technology” minors, whose directors have indicated their  enthusiastic approval of the course.

5. Not applicable

C.      Course Integrity

1.      There are no prerequisites.

2.      The course will typically be taught be Dr. Phil Oliver in the Department of Philosophy, but can be taught by any of the full-time, tenured members of the department’s faculty. It is anticipated that the course typically will enroll 25-30 students.

3.      No special facilities are required.

4.      Current library holdings are adequate.

5.      No professional certification is available for this course.

6.      This course emerges from the general and ongoing discussion of central themes in our discipline. No specialized or outside consultants have been involved in its explicit formulation, though of course the background “conversation” of contemporary philosophical debate has informed its broad outlines.

D.     Course Costs

1.      There are no additional course costs.

2.      The course will be part of standard budgeting.

E.      Comments

The question of the environment is arguably the preeminent challenge of the 21^st century.  The environmental ethics course seems especially suited to this time.

Part II – Course Outline

Department   Course Prefix  Number          Title of Course                                    Credit

PHILOSOPHY        PHIL             3340              Environmental Ethics                        3.0

A.     Course description and objectives

1. Description. This course examines the relation of humans to the rest of nature, clarifying the relevant ethical issues and exploring from various perspectives their application to present and future ecological concerns. The “environment” includes not only physical nature, climate, and the food chain (etc.) but our various cultural habitats as well. The course is thus concerned in the broadest sense with all the conditions and prospects of life for our species and others, in sustainable relation to the universe.

More specifically, the course considers questions of water and air quality, erosion, pollution, climate change, the disposal of waste and the toxic byproducts of industrialism, and other human impacts on wildlife. 

The question of sustainability is itself in need of critical reflection and clarification, addressed in the course by the questions of whether it should be our aim to sustain life in ways that minimize the human presence and “footprint” with respect to the rest of nature, and whether there can be a fixed and ahistorical definition of what sustainability means.

2. Objectives. The course compares many approaches to this urgent human preoccupation,  in order to articulate the extent of our mutual and collective obligations to one another and to other species and our obligations  to the ecosystem at large (including our descendants) in sustaining the conditions of life.  Other objectives include providing insight into the ongoing debate over the human “footprint” and whether it has been deleterious to the planet and its non-human inhabitants, and into the specific changes of lifestyle, consumer behavior, etc. that may be ethically required of us in order to preserve life on earth in the near and long-term future.

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to meet these objectives:

1.    Articulate the extent of humans’ mutual and collective obligations to one another and to other species.
2.    Identify humans’ obligations to the ecosystem at large (including our descendants) in sustaining the conditions of life.
3.    Participate in the ongoing debate over the human “footprint” and determine whether it has been deleterious to the planet and its non-human inhabitants.
4.    Identify the specific changes of lifestyle, consumer behavior, etc. that may be ethically required of us in order to preserve life on earth in the near and long-term future.
5.    Identify and use critical resources and tools they can apply as responsible biotic citizens.

Outline of Course Topics

•    The meaning of “nature” and “environment” (meets objectives 1 and 3)
•    Sustainability and the human impact (meets objectives 2 and 4)
•    Coping with climate change (meets objective 4 and 5)
•    Water, air, and land conservation (meets objective 5)
•    Industrial pollution, waste, and the consumer ethos (meets objectives 2 and 4 )
•    Human cultures as a part of nature (meets objectives 2 and 3 )
•    Food choices and the environment (meets objective 4)
•    Native and indigenous perspectives (meets objectives 1 and 3)

B.      Activities Required of Students

·        Assigned readings to be completed prior to each class session

·        Participation in class: daily journal entries, discussion, questions posed by each student to class on designated dates

·        Exams (objective format)

·        Class presentations

·        Critical essays

C.      Evaluation Procedures

Grades assigned may be graded based on

·        degree and quality of student participation in daily classroom discussions

·        quality and clarity of formal presentations and essays

·        exams

Graded exams , essays, and presentations may account for a percentage (to be determined) of each student’s final grade evaluation. Participation in class and group discussion, ungraded contributions to the course blogsite,  shared daily questions and comments pertaining to assigned materials, etc., may account for a percentage to be determined. The suggested grading scale is A (90%+), B (80-89%), C (70-79%), D (60-69%), and F (59% and below).

D.     References and Texts (representative candidate texts & extended bibliography)

Typically the course will use  several primary textual sources, drawn from online material in the public domain, and from published books  such as the :

Garvey, James. The Ethics of Climate Change: Right and Wrong in a Warming World. New York:                 Continuum, 2008.

Hawken, Paul.  Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History Is Restoring Grace, Justice,                  and Beauty to the World. New York: Penguin,l 2008.

Kolbert, Elizabeth. Field Notes From a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change. New  York:         Bloomsbury USA, 2006.

Lovelock, James. The Revenge of Gaia: Earth’s Climate Crisis and the Fate of Humanity.  New York: Basic               Books, 2007.

McKibben, Bill. The End of Nature. New York: Random House, 2006.

Pollan, Michael. The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s Eye View of the World. New York: Random House, 2002.

Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore’s Dilemma. New York: Penguin, 2007

Singer,  Peter, and Jim Mason. The Ethics of What We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter. New York:       Rodale, 2007.

Schmidtz, David, ed. Environmental Ethics: What Really Matters, What Really Works, 2d ed. New York:                 Oxford University Press, 2011.

Wilson, E.O. The Future of Life. New York: Vintage, 2003.

E.      Not applicable

G. Catalog Description (must be on a separate page)

This course examines the relation of humans to the rest of nature, clarifying the relevant ethical issues and exploring from various perspectives their application to present and future ecological concerns.