Philosophy 140S: Environmental Philosophy

Spring 2001, TuTh 1:15, Mr. Beckman

Today, the most important philosophical issue that we can raise about the environment is the ethics of our relationship with it. In that sense, the principal focus of this course will be what could alternatively be called "environmental ethics." However, my reason for calling this course "environmental philosophy" comes from a belief that an ethical relationship with the environment involves special problems that differ from, e.g., our ethical relationship with other human beings. In fact, environmental ethics really requires us to consider many other questions about the character of what environs us, including the very important and often misunderstood concept of nature itself. One of the chief modes of human relationship to environment is what we call technology; thus, technology and ethics cannot be separately considered but, rather, fit into a complex of concepts and behaviors. For all of these reasons, the course could also be subtitled, "Nature, Land, and Community in the Epoch of Technology."

Anthropologists have long observed that whatever a person considers a moral pattern of behavior is taught and maintained by the society in which the person develops and lives. Having covered the globe and discovered the most diverse social traditions, anthropologists challenge us to think through and rationalize the bases of our own moral thinking. Even if our own present thinking is merely a product of socially orchestrated education, is it possible in some way to think through an argument for personal and social change? Indeed, from the simple basis of considering human nature as such, is it possible to compare socially diverse moralities and suggest patterns of behavior that are arguably superior to those in place? This is the task of philosophy and of ethics in particular.

Ironically, the great majority of indigenous societies studied by anthropologists exemplify diverse moral behaviors relative to other people but quite similar moral behaviors relative to their natural environments. Modern industrial society, in contrast, has behaved quite differently toward the environment than have millenia of indigenous societies. And modern industrial society is distinguished further in largely denying that its behavior toward the environment is a matter of morality at all! It is interesting to note further that, since indigenous societies all possess technologies, it is not modern industrial society's singular possession of technology that explains this difference. What we have, instead, is a contrast between two social traditions which express technology in quite different ways and, in the process, treat the natural environment in radically different ways as well. In following this reasoning, it will be interesting to consider whether such a difference in relating to the environment doesn't, in fact, mean (if not require) a difference in understanding self or human nature. Human and environment are not separate entities but, rather, an inseparable whole. We cannot think differently about our environment without, in fact, thinking differently about humans and, hence, ourselves.

The semester will be divided into two distinct parts. The first ten meetings will be reading/discussion periods in which we develop and discuss a range of issues relating to environmental philosophy. The last three meetings will be case-study sessions in which groups of students report on their research projects.

We will begin with a collection of essays, edited by Anthony Weston, which presents an overview of environmental philosophy. After that, we will spend three weeks reading in a variety of works that include traditional nature writing, the definition and discussion of environments as "places," landscape history, and criticism of human-built environments. We will end the development of issues with three weeks on the philosophy of technology, introduced through José Ortega y Gassett's "Man As Technician" and Neil Postman's book, Technopoly, followed by two weeks on environmental ethics, using Eric Katz's book, Nature As Subject. Please see the reading Schedule for details.

Resources

I have ordered several texts through Huntley Bookstore; these are noted in the bibliography, below.

PHIL-140-L is our class E-MAIL list. Any question on readings, lectures, or discussion can be addressed to this list and will be readable by all class members. Send messages to the class list at the address Phil-140-L@HMC.EDU. Private messages can be sent to me at Tad_Beckman@HMC.EDU.

All course materials, including this syllabus, are on the course Web site at http://www4.hmc.edu/humanities/phil140/. This site includes all course notes, reading and paper assignments, and other relevant information. Since I will update these materials throughout the semester, please be sure to visit the site occasionally (especially before assignment due dates) to review changes. Web resources include links to many sites of interest to the issues addressed in this course; there is also a somewhat annotated bibliography on related texts. If you discover resources of interest, please let me know.

Please remember, also, that the Writing Center is available for help in drafting papers. It is located in TG 106.

Assignments and Expectations

Attendance and participation in class discussions are expected. If there is any reason why you cannot attend regularly, please see me immediately. Since the bulk of class time will be devoted to discussion of the texts, it is essential that everyone finish the assigned reading before class and be prepared to talk about it and ask questions, intelligently. Since this is a seminar, meeting for a double period only once per week, please note that the reading assigned is usually more than you can read thoroughly the night before class and plan accordingly.

In addition to reading and class-time discussion, there will be some on-line discussion of assignments as a part of normal weekly homework.

There will be two mid-term papers and a semester research paper. See discussion of these under the Paper Assignments page. There will be no final examination in this class.

Grading will be based on the following approximate distribution of emphasis:
Class Participation (20%)
On-line Discussion (20%)
Mid-semester Papers (15% each)
Research Paper, including timely development (30%)

Bibliography

Weston, Anthony (ed). An Invitation to Environmental Philosophy (New York : Oxford University Press, 1998)

Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac; And Sketches Here & There (New York : Oxford University Press, 1989)

Stegner, Wallace. The American West as Living Space (University of Michigan Press, 1987)

Postel, Sandra. Last Oasis: Facing Water Scarcity (Norton, 1997)

Jackson, Wes. New Roots for Agriculture (University of Nebraska Press, 1995)

Hoffmann, Donald. Frank Lloyd Wright: Architecture and Nature (Dover, 1996)

Winner, Langdon. The Whale and the Reactor (University of Chicago Press, 1988)

Course Index

This page was last updated on September 20, 2000.