Philosophy 245: Environmental Philosophy
Schedule of Assignments, Fall 2012
1. Aug 21: Introduction
Ethics and Climate Change
2. Aug 23: Stephen Gardner, “Ethics and Global Climate Change,” introduction to Stephen Gardiner, Simon Caney, Dale Jamieson, & Henry Shue, Climate Ethics: Essential Readings (Oxford, 2010) (hereafter, “Gardner”), pp. 3-35
3. Aug 28: Derek Parfit, “Energy Policy and the Further Future: The Identity Problem,” in Gardner, pp. 112-121
4. Aug 30: Henry Shue, “Deadly Delays, Saving Opportunities: Creating a More Dangerous World?” in Gardner, pp. 146-162.
5. Sept 4: Simon Carey, “Climate Change, Human Rights, and Moral Thresholds,” in Gardner, pp. 163-177
6. Sept 6: Peter Singer “One Atmosphere,” in Gardner, pp. 181-199.
7. Sept 11: Stephen Gardner, “Is ‘Arming the Future’ with Geoengineering Really the Lesser Evil?: Some Doubts about the Ethics of Intentionally Manipulating the Climate System” in Gardner, pp. 284-312
8. Sept 13: Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, “It’s Not My Fault,”in Gardner, pp. 332-346.
9. Sept 18: Ty Raterman, “Bearing the Weight of the World: On the Extent of an Individual's Environmental Responsibility” on class webpage
10. Sept 20: Exam on Ethics and Climate Change
The Ethics of Wild and Domesticated Animals
11. Sept 25: Clare Palmer, Animal Ethics in Context (Columbia 2010) (hereafter “Palmer”), Introduction and Ch 1: Animals’ Capacities and Moral Status, pp. 1-24
12. Sept 27: Palmer, Ch 2: Capacity-Oriented Accounts of Animal Ethics, pp. 25-43
13. Oct 2: Palmer, Ch 3: Capacities, Contexts and Relations, pp. 44-62
14. Oct 4: Palmer, Ch 4: Wildness, Domestication, and the Laissez-faire Intuition
15. Oct 9: Palmer, Ch 5: Developing a New, Relational Approach, pp. 64-95
16. Oct 11: Palmer, Ch 6: Past Harms and Special Obligations, pp. 96-114
17. Oct 16: Palmer, Ch 7: Some Problems and Questions, pp. 115-140
18. Oct 18: Palmer, Ch 8: Puzzling Through Some Cases and Conclusion, pp 141-166
19. Oct 23: Exam of the Ethics of Wild and Domesticated Animals
Oct 23: Campus visit and talk by author Jonathan Foer on Eating Animals
Aesthetics and Nature
20. Oct 25: Glenn Parsons, Aesthetics and Nature (Continuum, 2008) (hereafter “Parsons”), Ch 1: Approaching the Philosophy of Natural Beauty (1-17)
21. Oct 30: Parsons, Ch 2: Imagination, Belief, and the Aesthetics of Nature (18-33)
22. Nov 1: Parsons, Ch 3: Formalism (34-48)
Paper proposal due, Friday, Nov 2nd (by email)
Tues, Nov 6, no class, election day
23. Nov 8: Parsons, Ch 4: Science and Nature Aesthetics (49-65)
24. Nov 13: Parsons, Ch 5: Pluralism (66-80)
25. Nov 15: Parsons, Ch 6: Nature and the Disembodied Aesthetic (81-94)
Paper Due, Friday, Nov 16th (paper copy)
26. Nov 20: Parsons, Ch 7: Aesthetics and the Preservation of Nature (95-113)
Thanksgiving break
27. Nov 27: Katherine Robinson and Kevin Elliott "Environmental Aesthetics and Public Environmental Philosophy" on class webpage
28. Nov 29: Parsons, Ch 9: Art in Nature (128-140)
a. In Class Video: Andy Goldsworthy, Rivers and Tides
Exam on Aesthetics and Nature (during final exam period), Tuesday, Dec 11th, 12pm