School: Arts and Humanities PH320 Environmental Ethics 3 Credit Hours 8 Week Semester Prerequisite: PH101

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1 School: Arts and Humanities PH320 Environmental Ethics 3 Credit Hours 8 Week Semester Prerequisite: PH101 Instructor Information Course Description Course Scope Course Objectives Course Delivery Method Course Materials Evaluation Procedures Grading Scale Course Outline Policies Academic Services Selected Bibliography Instructor Information Course Description (Catalog) This course is a study of issues approached from an ethical standpoint. Issues raised in the course include questions regarding our responsibility to preserve and protect the environment, ethical questions in regard to policy, and questions about the relevance of traditional theories of ethical philosophy in regard to contemporary problems. We will also consider the need for a new conception of the relationship between humanity and nature brought about by current crises. Course Scope This course deals with both theoretical and practical concerns of ethics. We will begin by discussing general theories, principles, and concepts of ethics, and the role that philosophy has to play in debates. In the second part of the course we will consider the advantages and disadvantages of approaching ethics as a problem of

2 applied ethics. We will conclude by examining more recent developments in ethics that move beyond applied ethics to articulate an philosophy. Throughout the course we will be analyzing and discussing actual cases in ethics. Course Objectives After successfully completing this course, you will be able to: Critically examine traditional and more radical approaches to ethics. Identify and analyze key issues and areas of disagreement raised in case studies. Evaluate the claims made by various groups and individuals regarding the ethical status of plants, animals, ecosystems and our relationship and responsibility to them. Draw conclusions about the future of the environment. Course Delivery Method This course delivered via distance learning will enable students to complete academic work in a flexible manner, completely online. Course materials and access to an online learning management system will be made available to each student. Online assignments are due by Sunday evening of the week as noted and include Forum questions (accomplished in groups through a threaded Forum), testing, and individual assignments submitted for review by the Faculty Member). Assigned faculty will support the students throughout this eight-week course. Course Materials Required Course Textbooks - you will find the books under the Resources section of our class website. Click on Resources > PHIL320 E-Books > DesJardins/Newton, etc. Environmental Ethics: An Introduction to Environmental Philosophy, Joseph R. DesJardins, 5 th edition, Wadsworth, 2013, ISBN This is the text that we will use for our forum discussions, Test 1 and Test 2. This text will be abbreviated as EE. Watersheds 4, Ten Cases in Environmental Ethics, Lisa H. Newton, Catherine K. Dillingham, and Joanne Choly, Wadsworth, 2006, ISBN This is the text

3 that we will use for developing topics for our Term Paper, Test 1 Test 2. This text will be abbreviated as WS. Evaluation Procedures Readings You will be required to read an average of 50 to 75 pages per week for this course. This course requires you to develop a time management plan and employ self-discipline to follow it. Throughout the course, you will be given assignments that require writing and online interaction with your professor and classmates. This interaction is asynchronous which means you are not required to be online at a specific time and place with your professor or classmates. Forums Initial Posts You will be required to participate each week in the forum discussion. I expect you to respond to the posted question each week (Week 1, 2, etc.) and also to raise issues of your own as well as respond to issues raised by other students. Your forum posts should be well thought out and presented in a clear, concise, thorough, and well-organized manner. Please post your word responses by Thursdays of each week. Make sure that you work in a quotation or two from the assigned reading and refer directly to the content of the reading in your response in order to maximize your grade! Initial posts are worth 3 points each week. Responses to Classmates You are also required to respond to two of your classmates posts by Sunday at the end of each week. These responses should be at least words and substantively advance the discussion. Because Forums are timely in nature to promote class discussion, they will not be graded for credit if they are posted late. Each response is worth 1 point. Test 1 There is a 20 question multiple-choice test over EE Chapters 1-6 and WS Chapters 1-6. Test 2 There is a 20 question multiple-choice test over EE Chapters 7-11 and WS Chapters Final Project

4 1. Proposal : You must first submit a project proposal and have it approved before writing your paper. Topic proposals should be submitted by the end of Week 5, along with an educational video. The proposal should be words and be posted or uploaded as a MS Word attachment in the Assignment section. The proposals are graded and the instructor will work with the students to design the topic for the final project. 2. Final Project /Final Draft Papers should be between words, 12 point font, double-spaced, and formatted in the MLA Style. Papers can address either theoretical issues or practical concerns. The paper will be evaluated on form as well as content. It should be clearly written, well organized, and free of spelling and grammatical errors. Sources used in research must be included in the bibliography. References must be supplied for all quotations and also for any idea, insights, or viewpoints you by reading the work of others. The paper is due at the end of week 8. Grading Grade Instruments Points % of Grade Forums 40 40% Test % Test 2 Test 20 10% Final Project Proposal 5 5% Final Project 35 35% Total % 8 Week Course Outline Please see the Student Handbook to reference the University s grading scale Week Topic Learning Objectives Readings Assignment An introduction to the basic concepts of Identify traditional theories and concepts of ethics. Assess the usefulness Environmental Ethics, Chapters 1 and 2. Due Thursday Introductory Post Forum Initial Post DesJardins defends the importance of philosophy as a

5 1 ethics and an examination of the relevance of philosophy for concerns. 2 This week we begin an examination of ethics as a branch of applied ethics. We will consider an economic approach to problems that seeks to find solutions through economic theory and free market forces. We will also consider the question of what our responsibility to future generations may be. of these theories for issues. Examine the political and economic issues and perceptions surrounding the controversy over genetically altered crops. Assess the advantages and disadvantages of using economic theory to solve problems. Compare and contrast conservationists and preservationist approaches to management of our national forests. Critically, examination the arguments for and against our responsibility to future generations. Watersheds 4, Introduction, Chapters 1 and 2. Environmental Ethics, Chapters 3 and 4. Watersheds 4, Chapters 3 and 4. guide to ethics. The authors of the case studies, Newton, Dillingham, and Choly, however, say: it turns out to matter very little when the cod disappear from Georges Banks and the cloud of poison rolls over Bhopal, whether we approach the problems fro the perspective of Ecofeminism or deep ecology, or, for that matter, from Kantian or Utilitarian perspectives (xiii, Watersheds 4). How might DesJardins respond to their assertion that philosophy is unimportant? What do you think? Due Thursday Forum Initial Post An economic approach to issues has certain advantages. Primarily, it is guided by and functions within the values, principles, and practices of a capitalist social order. Although one might assume that the environment would be seen as a resource to be ruthlessly exploited in the interest of making a buck, an economic perspective, as the text shows, can be used as a way of protecting the environment to assure its continued use. In the end, however, DesJardins rejects an economic approach to issues. Why? Do you agree or disagree with him? 3 This week we continue our examination of applied ethics. We will consider anthropocentric and nonanthropocentric approaches to issues. We will Evaluate the relationship between humans and the natural environment. Assess the argument for and against the claim that non-humans have moral standing. Evaluate the arguments for and criticisms of Environmental Ethics, Chapter 5 Watersheds, Chapter 5 You may read ahead if you want to answer the question regarding Biocentric Ethics. Due Thursday Choose 1 (Chapter 5 or Chapter 6) Forum Initial Post Chapter 5: Our responsibilities to the natural environment are determined by our concept of the moral standing of nonhumans. Traditionally in the West we have looked upon the natural world as a resource to be used however we see fit. If we trace this back we see that this same

6 also discuss our responsibilities to the natural world. the animal rights advocates. tradition has often treated other humans in the same way, as a resource to be used to meet the needs of the master. So, it is not at all clear that the moral fulcrum point on which our tradition rests is the distinction between human and nonhuman. Today, although we now recognize the moral standing of all human beings, many do not believe that non-humans have moral standing. Some, while recognizing our responsibility to the environment, claim that our traditional moral principles are adequate to address the question. Others, however, claim that we must shift from an anthropocentric to nonanthropocentric ethics. What do you think? Chapter 6: Subject: Do we need a biocentric ethic? DesJardins concludes that traditional ethical theory is inadequate to handle ethical questions of the environment. Do you agree? Please support your opinion using arguments from the text and/or example from current concerns. Forum Optional This week's forum is optional and ungraded. You can use it for communicating with the instructor and your classmates regarding your final project (the proposal and video and due Week 5). You should also finish Test 1 this week! 4 This week we begin our examination of theories of ethics that move beyond traditional ethical theory in order to develop a comprehensive philosophy. Evaluate the philosophical shift from an ethics based on the problem of morals to one centered on value. Critique the theory of biocentric ethics. Assess the role and responsibilities of business to the environment. Environmental Ethics: Chapter 6 Watersheds, Chapter 6 Test 1 5 This week we will consider an ecocentric approach to ethics. Compare and contrast the theories of biocentric and eco-centric ethics. Evaluate the wilderness ideal and wilderness myth. Assess the concept and claims of metaphysical Environmental Ethics, Chapter 7. Watersheds 4, Chapter 7 Due Thursday: Forum post; paper proposal & video. Due Sunday Term Paper Proposal

7 holism. Please submit a word proposal of your topic for approval in the Assignment section of our classroom website. 6 This week we examine Aldo Leopold s Land Ethic. Assess Leopold s criticism of preservationist and conservationist approaches to land management. Critique the theory of ecological holism. Evaluate the criticisms of the land ethic. Environmental Ethics, Chapter 8 Watersheds 4, Chapter 8; You may read ahead if you want to answer Forum choice 2 or 3. Due Thursday Choose 1 of 3 options! 1. DesJardins claims that although there are serious philosophical challenges to the land ethic it still holds promise. What is the land ethic? What problems do his critics raise? How might this approach still be useful? (Chapter 8) 2. At first blush, metaphysics seems far afield from issues. What are the metaphysical assumptions that underlie more traditional theories? Why does Deep Ecology criticize them? What does it offer in their place? Theories of justice may also seem to be irrelevant, but are not. What is the relation between social theory and ism? What does considerations of social justice have in common with Deep Ecology? How do they differ? (Chapter 9) 3. "Dealer's Choice": You may choose any chapter or part of a chapter from EE and post on that this week. Examples: Wilderness Management (Chapter 7); Ecofeminism (Chapter 9); Property Rights or Justice as Fairness (Chapter 10); Sustainable Development (Chapters 4, 11); The Goodness of God's Creation (Chapter 2), etc., YOUR CHOICE!!! This week's forum is optional and ungraded. You can use it for communicating with the instructor and your classmates regarding your final project (due at the end of Week 8, our course end date). You should be working on your final project/paper, and you should also be working on Test 12 this week! 7 This week we examine the Deep Ecology movement, justice, and social ecology. Assess the principles of the Deep Ecology platform. Compare and contrast biocentric and Deep Ecology ethics. Evaluate the criticisms of Deep Ecology. Evaluate the theory of Social Ecology and its Environmental Ethics, Chapters 9 and 10. Watersheds 4, Chapter 9

8 critics. 8 We conclude this course with and examination of Ecofeminism, pluralist and pragmatic approaches, and the goal of sustainability. Evaluate the feminist approach to concerns. Assess the appropriateness and usefulness of moral pluralism and pragmatism. Environmental Ethics, Chapters 11. Watersheds 4, Chapters 10 and Epilogue Due Thursday Forum Initial Post Subject: Where do we go from here? Having come to the end of the course it may appear that we have run into a dead-end. We have examined all the current major philosophical approaches to ethics and have not been able to find a clear, unambiguous ethical theory that we can use to guide us to make the right choices when confronted with complex issues. So, have we learned anything of value that will help us to choose well and live well? Term Paper Choose and discuss an Environmental Ethical Issue and apply an ethical school of thought to help understand and "resolve" the issue words. Test 2 Policies Please see the Student Handbook to reference all University policies. Quick links to frequently asked question about policies are listed below. Drop/Withdrawal Policy Plagiarism Policy Extension Process and Policy Disability Accommodations

9 Writing Expectations Students will follow the MLA Style Guide. See the Guide at the Link below. Library/Tutorials/Mla.htm Late Assignments The graded Forum posts must be posted during the appropriate week, and will not be graded for credit if they are late. Test 1 and Test 2 will be open during the entire course. The official due date for Test 1 is at the end of Week 4. However, it can be submitted late, up to our course end date, with no penalty. Netiquette Online universities promote the advance of knowledge through positive and constructive debate--both inside and outside the classroom. Discussions on the Internet, however, can occasionally degenerate into needless insults and flaming. Such activity and the loss of good manners are not acceptable in a university setting--basic academic rules of good behavior and proper Netiquette must persist. Remember that you are in a place for the fun and excitement of learning that does not include descent to personal attacks, or student attempts to stifle the discussion of others. Technology Limitations: While you should feel free to explore the full-range of creative composition in your formal papers, keep layouts simple. The Educator classroom may not fully support MIME or HTML encoded messages, which means that bold face, italics, underlining, and a variety of color-coding or other visual effects will not translate in your messages. Humor Note: Despite the best of intentions, jokes and--especially--satire can easily get lost or taken seriously. If you feel the need for humor, you may wish to add emoticons to help alert your readers: ;-), : ), Online Library The Online Library is available to enrolled students and faculty from inside the electronic campus. This is your starting point for access to online books, subscription periodicals, and Web resources that are designed to support your classes and generally not available through search engines on the open Web. In addition, the Online Library provides access to special learning

10 resources, which the University has contracted to assist with your studies. Questions can be directed to Check out the PHIL 320 course guide at Charles Town Library and Inter Library Loan: The University maintains a special library with a limited number of supporting volumes, collection of our professors publication, and services to search and borrow research books and articles from other libraries. Electronic Books: You can use the online library to uncover and download over 50,000 titles, which have been scanned and made available in electronic format. Electronic Journals: The University provides access to over 12,000 journals, which are available in electronic form and only through limited subscription services. Smarthinking: Students have access to ten free hours of tutoring service per year through Smarthinking. Tutoring is available in the following subjects: math (basic math through advanced calculus), science (biology, chemistry, and physics), accounting, statistics, economics, Spanish, writing, grammar, and more. Additional information is located in the Online Library. From the Online Library home page, click on either the Writing Center or Tutoring Center and then click Smarthinking. All login information is available. Selected Bibliography Selected Bibliography can be found in the Course Guide (see above!)