School: Arts & Humanities
Location: San Rafael
Department: Humanities
Discipline: Philosophy
Course Number: Environmental Ethics – PHIL 3110/CQPH 3110
Title: Doing Environmental Ethics
Semester and Units: Fall 2006, 3 units
Blackboard: Course requirements include online activities using http://duc.blackboard.com.
Instructor Name: Dr. Robert Traer
Contact Information: bob@rtraer.com, 510-527-2302 (eve), 24 hour response
Office: Angelico #106, hours posted online in Blackboard

I. Course Description and Approach

Course Description: Environmental ethics is about the ecological choices we have. We cannot control the future, but we may choose to care for our natural environment with greater concern for other people and some other species. If we make this choice, future generations will remember our generation with gratitude.

In this course students will address ethical issues concerning our understanding and care of the natural environment, which sustains not only our life, but also all life on earth. The focus of the course will be on thinking ethically about our environment, and considering the moral strategies now being pursued by major environmental organizations.

Ethical Approach: Our context for doing ethics is the pluralism of our world. We consider our duty, the character virtues we revere, our primary relationships, and human rights in order to construct ethical presumptions, before weighing the possible consequences of acting on these presumptions.

Teaching Methods: Students will be asked to raise questions about the assigned readings. The instructor will lead the class in discussing student questions and the study questions for the course. Students will discuss ethical questions in class and online, as threaded discussions.

Blackboard: This course requires access and use of a computer, Adobe Acrobat Reader software (may be downloaded online for free), an email address, and basic skills in accessing information online, emailing, and participating in a threaded discussion.

II. Student Learning Outcomes and Assessment

Each student will complete the course with…

• An ability to identify, demonstrate sensitivity to, and clarify her or his thoughts on

ethical approaches to environmental issues.

• An ability to evaluate critically theories and arguments concerning environmental ethics.
• An ability to construct ethical presumptions by considering our moral duty, character aspirations, how we might strengthen our relationships, and human rights.
• A critical awareness of the strategy and activities of one major environmental group.
• An integrated, interdisciplinary understanding of the topic of their colloquium; that is, the student will be able to discuss some important colloquium idea in a fashion that draws upon the perspectives and content of at least two colloquium disciplines.

These learning outcomes will be assessed by: two written essays, one on the assigned reading and one on an environmental advocacy group, two exams on study questions given to the students in advance on the assigned reading, and participation in discussion online. Essays and the midterm exam will be graded and returned within a week of the date received, unless an essay is turned in on the last day of class. The final exam will not be returned. Points earned by a student by participating in online discussion will be posted in Blackboard after the midterm exam and at the end of the course.

III. Academic Honesty

"Dominican University of California is an academic community. All of our community members are expected to abide by ethical standards both in their conduct and in their exercise of responsibilities toward other members of the community. Students, faculty members, administrators, and staff are expected to adopt standards of behavior that place a high value on respecting the ideas of others. All intellectual accomplishments – examinations, papers, lectures, experiments, and other projects – should adhere to the highest standards of academic integrity and ethics."

"The faculty, administration, and staff recognize their obligation to provide continuing guidance as to what constitutes academic honesty and to promote procedures and circumstances that will reinforce the principle of academic honor. Fundamental to the principle of independent learning is the requirement of honesty and integrity in the performance of academic assignments, both in the classroom and outside. Students should avoid dishonesty in all of its forms, including plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic misconduct."

"The University reserves the right to determine in any given instance what action constitutes a violation of academic honesty and integrity."

IV. Role of Students as Individuals and as Members of Teams or Groups

• Questions in Class: Students will be expected to raise a question on the assigned reading in three classes, and a sign up sheet allowing students to indicate the days they plan to raise questions will be available in each class session. The instructor will use the sign up sheet to invite students to raise their questions for class discussion. Students will receive 3 points for each interpretive question or clarifying question, and 2 points for each factual and evaluative question asked in class. (A description of these kinds of questions is provided in Attachment A in the Blackboard version of this course.) A student who misses class on the day she or he has signed up to ask a question may sign up to raise a question another day in class.

• Study Questions: Students will receive all the study questions for the course before examinations, which will use some of these questions. Examinations will be closed book and will require short essay answers. The instructor will cover many of these questions in class, and students may ask the instructor to discuss in class any of the course study questions.
• Discussion Online: Students will discuss ethical issues online in Blackboard.
• Advocacy Analysis: Each student is to study an environmental advocacy NGO and write a critical reflection on its work. The essay should be 750-1000 words in length, typed and double-spaced, and may be submitted either by email or on paper.
• Critical Essay: Each student is expected to write a critical essay. The essay should:

• Discuss an important colloquium idea, drawing on at least two colloquium disciplines.
• Reflect critically on one or more assertion(s) made in the assigned reading.
• Include citations for quotes and a bibliography.
• Be 750-1000 words in length, printed, and double-spaced.

In addition to being graded, this essay will be used for assessment of the Cultural Heritage Colloquium Program. Therefore, the student must submit two copies of the essay, one to be graded by the instructor, and one without the student’s name to be submitted to the Provost’s Office by the instructor with a copy of the Assessment Data Sheet completed by the student.

V. Diversity

Ethics taught at Dominican University should reflect the diversity of our contemporary culture and of the University. This course will attempt to do so in two ways. First, the instructor will encourage students to raise questions in class that concern diverse points of view. Second, the racial and ethnic diversity of the students will help to enrich class discussion.

VI. Assessment Potential Points

6. Three class questions on reading, each worth 3 points 9 points

Online discussion, a minimum of eight postings 8 points

Critical essay on the assigned reading 20 points

Essay on environmental advocacy 15 points

Mid-term and final exams, each worth 24 points 48 points

100 points

Class Questions: Full credit will be earned for each interpretative question or question seeking clarification, if raised orally in class and submitted that same day in written form to the instructor. 2 points will be earned for questions only raised orally in class, and not submitted in writing the same day, and for factual questions and evaluative questions. In every case points will be given only for three questions raised in class, however students are encouraged to raise questions in class in addition to the three questions that are required.

Discussion Online: Students are expected to participate in threaded discussions online, and to post a minimum of 8 times during the semester.

Critical Writing: Papers with more than three presentation errors (spelling, punctuation, grammar, not double-spaced) will be marked down 1 point. Also, not considering more than one ethical argument will result in losing 1 point. Other reasons for losing points include:

• Making statements that are incorrect or contradictory.
• Relying on assumptions that are unwarranted or not helpful for the ethical argument.
• Asserting conclusions (of the student or an ethicist) as though these are ethical arguments.
• Giving examples that do not support the point the student is trying to make.
• Generalizing beyond what the evidence presented will support.
• Claiming to know more than is known or can be known.
• Using an analogy that is not apt or persuasive.
• Claiming a conclusion is logical or the result of deductive reasoning, when it is not.

Exam Questions: Reasons for losing points on an exam question include the list above as well as:

• Not clearly answering the question asked.
• Answering a question that has not been asked (as though it has been asked).

Each exam will give students a selection of study questions and some choice. For instance, if each section of the exam has two questions, students would be asked to answer one question per section. Each question will be worth between 2-4 points, as specified on the exam. Students are expected to make two statements in answering a questions worth 2 points, three statements in answering a question worth 3 points, and four statements in answering a question worth 4 points. A student who misses an exam may be able to make it up, but must contact the instructor within 24 hours of the exam, explain the reason for missing the exam, and be willing to cooperate with the instructor’s suggestion for making it up, either in writing or orally.

Grading: A = 90-100 points C = 70-79 points F = Less than 60 points

B = 80-89 points D = 60-69 points

To receive GE credit for this class, a student must receive a grade of C or better.

VII. Course Materials

• David Schmidtz and Elizabeth Willott, editors, Environmental Ethics: What Really Matters, What Really Works (NY: Oxford University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-19-513909-7).
• Excerpts from Herman E. Daly and Joshua Farley, Ecological Economics: Principles and Applications (Island Press, 2004, ISBN 1-55963-312-3)
• Other materials posted at http://religionhumanrights.net/Ethics/doing.ethics.htm and as htm and pdf files in the Blackboard version of this course.

VIII. Classroom Guidelines

• "If you are a registered student whose name has appeared on the class roster and you miss the initial class meeting and do not contact the instructor about your intent to attend by the second class meeting, the instructor may, in consultation with the department chairperson, permit another student to take your seat."
• Students who attend class regularly in general do better on the exams, as the study questions are discussed in class. But students are responsible for their own class attendance.
• Cell phones and pagers should be turned off before entering the classroom. Food should not be eaten during the class, but may be brought to class and eaten at the break.
• In this class those who differ with views expressed by someone else should do so with respect for the other person, and should be willing to give reasons for differing. In studying ethics it is not acceptable to say to someone else, "You are wrong." The proper response is, "I disagree with you (or with your position on some issue) for these reasons..."

IX. Disclaimer

This syllabus is subject to change. If changes occur, an amended syllabus will be provided.

X. Course Schedule

8/23 Getting Organized

8/25 Approach to Doing Ethics Living Ecologically (Chapter 15 in DE)

8/30 Duty

• Holmes Rolston III, Values in and Duties to the Natural World (SW 33)
• Mary Midgley, Duties Concerning Islands (SW 71)
• Henry Shue, Global Environment and International Inequality (SW 394)

9/6 Character

• Thomas E. Hill, Jr., Ideals of Human Excellence…Natural Environments (SW 189)
• Freya Matthews, Letting the World Grow Old…Countermodernity (SW 221)
• Bryan G. Norton, The Environmentalists’ Dilemma…Sand Dollars (SW 494)
• Bryan G. Norton, Fragile Freedoms (SW 501)

9/13 Relationships

• Karen J. Warren, The Power and the Promise of Ecological Feminism (SW 234)
• Gita Sen, Women, Poverty, and Population: Issues…Environmentalist (SW 248)
• Rukmini Rao, Women Farmers of India’s…Challenge World Elites (SW 255)
• Bill Devall and George Sessions, Deep Ecology (SW 120)

9/20 Human Rights

• Murray Bookchin, Social Ecology Versus Deep Ecology (SW 126)
• David Schmidtz, The Institution of Property (SW 361)
• Holmes Rolston III, Feeding People Versus Saving Nature (SW 404)

9/27 Midterm Exam

10/4 Consequences: Preservation and Conservation

• Ramachandra Guha, Radical American Environmentalism…Critique (SW 285)
• Ian J. Whyte, Headaches and Heartaches: The Elephant…Dilemma (SW 293)
• Raymond Bonner, At the Hand of Man…Hope for Africa’s Wildlife (SW 306)
• David Schmidtz, When Preservation Doesn’t Preserve (SW320)

10/11 Consequences: Sustainable Development

• Elizabeth Willott, Recent Population Trends (SW 274)
• Carol Rose, Environmental Lessons (SW 348)
• Peter Singer, Famine, Affluence, and Morality (SW 386)
• David Schmidtz, Natural Enemies: An Anatomy of Environmental Conflict (SW 417)
• Jessica Woolliams, Designing Cities and Buildings…Ethical Choices (SW 426)
• Howard F. Lyman with Glen Merzer, Mad Cowboy…Who Won’t Eat Meat (SW 524)

10/18 Consequences: Cost/Benefit Analysis

• Steven Kelman, Cost-Benefit analysis: An Ethical Critique (SW 455)
• Herman B. Leonard and Richard J. Zeckhauser, Cost-Benefit Analysis… (SW 462)

10/25 Economics and Ecology (EE 50-51, 91-92, 104-105, 108-109)

11/1 International Trade and Globalization (EE 314-321, 328-339

11/8 Just Distribution (EE 389-404)

11/22 Efficient Allocation (EE 405-423)

11/29 Essay on Environment NGO Due

12/1 Final Exam

DE = Robert Traer and Harlan Stelmach, Doing Ethics in a Diverse World

SW = Schmidtz and Willott, Environmental Ethics

EE = Excerpts from Daley and Farley, Ecological Economics