Dr. Martin Schönfeld
Department of Philosophy
Fall Semester 2004
Tuesdays and Thursdays,
From 1900 to 2000, the world population grew from 1.3 billion to 6.2
billion people, the world economic output (gross domestic product at constant
prices) increased 19-fold, and the global economy grew at average annual rate
of 3 percent. These developments have
translated into a big hunger for resources.
Now the biosphere is in a crisis.
About 20 percent of the world’s species have disappeared since
1800. It is estimated that another 20
percent will disappear until 2050.
Rainforests are shrinking. World
fisheries are declining. Global warming
has begun. The Ozone Hole continues to
be there (and UV radiation is more harmful now than it was in the past).
The United Nations (UN) is trying to help (
We will survey the fundamental implications of the environmental
crisis—what they mean in terms of right and wrong (ethics) and in terms of the
patterns of reality (ontology). We will
also examine the religious and cultural traditions that have contributed to the
environmental crisis, as well as relevant political and economic structures,
such as the trends of globalization and its problems. The class has a theoretical focus;
mostly we will discuss writings by various current thinkers.
The class will familiarize you with:
We will discuss readings in class.
Most of the texts are famous papers in environmental ethics. Because these papers are the “classics”, they
are often the first attempt by philosophers to make sense of a certain
problem. We need to analyze and
criticize them. Your participation will
make the course fun. Discussion and doubts
are strongly encouraged. Prepare the
assignments before the relevant meeting and read through them several
times.
Philosophy is straightforward: it plays the game of knowledge by the
rules of evidence and logic.
Philosophers question authority with reason and facts—you better get
used to that!
The course grade is based on the average grade earned in five tests
(each test counts 20%). Tests are about
assignments and lectures, and are announced one week in advance. The final exam (test 5) is on Thursday, Dec.
9,
1. Louis P. Pojman, Global
Environmental Ethics (Mountain View: Mayfield, 1999).
2. Louis
P. Pojman, editor, Environmental Ethics: Readings in Theory and Application. Fourth Edition. (
The topics will be covered in the sequence stated below. The time spent on each topic will vary between one and three weeks (two to five periods).
·
Introduction:
Philosophy and Ethical Theory
·
History
of Ideas: World Religions and the Causes of the Environmental Crisis
·
Human
and Animal Rights
·
Natural
Value, Land Ethics, and Biocentrism
·
Deep
Ecology and Eastern Mysticism
·
Eco-feminism
and Postmodern Critique
·
Normative
Issues of Biodiversity
·
Obligations
to Future Generations
·
Conclusion:
Dynamic Patterns of Reality and Sustainable Development
Tuesdays,
Dr. Martin Schönfeld
Department of Philosophy FAO 226 (that’s the department office)
Email: mschonfe@chuma.cas.usf.edu
Phone: 974-5698
Fax: 974-5914
PHI 3640 Environmental Ethics
Fall Semester 2004
Dr. Martin Schönfeld
Handout 1
Topic: 1. Introduction:
Philosophy and Ethical Theory
1.1. Philosophical
Disciplines
Philosophy is the rational investigation of human existence in the world. It is related to science; historically, it is the "mother" of the sciences. Like science, p. involves theories and examines issues and claims through logical checks and critical thinking. Unlike science, p. does not perform experiments because its objects are either rational entities or empirical issues too broad for experimentation. The term is from the Greek "philein" (love) and "sophia" (wisdom). P. involves multiple disciplines organized in the branches ethics, logic, metaphysics, and epistemology.
Ethics studies the
nature of morality and features of human conduct. "What should we do?", "what is
happiness?" and "what is the good?" are its basic
questions. E. is the main discipline in
Eastern philosophy. It is related to social
and political philosophy (the study of justice and the good in societies
and political systems), to philosophy of law (the study of the rational
foundations of legal norms), and to environmental ethics (the
application of ethical concepts to the human interaction with nature). Other names for E. are practical
philosophy and moral philosophy.
Logic studies the
nature of truth, validity, and the form of reasoning. It is related to philosophy of mathematics,
which investigates the basis of mathematical calculi, and to philosophy of
language, which studies the relations of syntax, semantic, and the links
between thoughts and words.
Metaphysics
investigates the essence of being, the structure and types of objects in the
world. M. was the main philosophical
discipline in the West. In asking about
fundamental frameworks, metaphysics goes "beyond" (=
"meta", Greek) the questions asked by physics. Related to metaphysics are ontology
(the study of being), philosophy of religion (the study of the question
of God), and aesthetics (the study of beauty).
Epistemology
investigates the structure of knowledge, the processes of perception, and the
nature of cognition. Asks,
"What is it that we can know?"
Ep. is related to the interdisciplinary cluster of the brain sciences—philosophy
of mind/cognitive science/artificial intelligence. It is also related to philosophy of
science. While epistemology studies
the structure of knowledge in the individual, philosophy of science studies the
structure of knowledge (the methodology) in a group (the scientific community). Another word for epistemology is theory of
understanding.
PHI 3640 Environmental Ethics
Fall Semester 2004
Dr. Martin Schönfeld
Handout 2
Topic: 1. Introduction:
Philosophy and Ethical Theory
1.2. The Structure of
Theories
Theories Fact Sheet
A theory is a system of statements and strategies with the
aim to explain something. The central
statements of a theory are the core hypotheses; they supply the
explanation of events. For example, the
core hypothesis of the theory of relativity is “mass grips spacetime, telling
it how to curve, and spacetime grips mass, telling it how to move.” If a core hypothesis is confirmed (such that
its predictions turn out to be correct time and again, or that its implications
are corroborated by repeated experiments and match the gathered data), then it
will advance to a law of nature.
The hypotheses of a theory are unified: the theory involves one
consistent problem-solving strategy.
A problem that can’t be solved immediately with the core hypotheses is
an anomaly. Anomalies can be
dealt with by advancing additional claims, that is, by framing auxiliary
hypotheses. Making an auxiliary
hypothesis is guided by rules (the new hypothesis must not only agree with the
core hypothesis but also be independently testable). An auxiliary hypothesis that breaks these
rules is an ad hoc hypothesis.
In an ethical theory, core hypotheses are the central assumptions
defining the view on morality advocated by the theory. There are two types of ethical theories. Some ethical theories are descriptive:
their aim is to describe the nature of morality. They suggest answers to questions such as
"what is morality?" or "what does the moral good consist
in?" Examples of descriptive
ethical theories are cultural relativism, subjectivism, emotivism, and
psychological egoism.
Other ethical theories are normative: their aim is to prescribe
norms of behavior. They propose answers
to the questions, "what is the right conduct?"
or "what should we do?" An
example of a prescriptive/normative ethical theory is ethical egoism. Some ethical theories contain descriptive and
prescriptive elements---they are views of the nature of morality and
tell us what to do. Examples of such
theories are the divine command theory, the natural law theory, virtue
ethics, contractarianism, utilitarianism, and Kantian
ethics.
If it satisfies a set of criteria, a scientific/ethical theory will be a
good theory. A good theory has:
1. Unity
2. Internal consistency
3. External consistency
4. Explanatory and predictive power
5. Parsimony—elegance or beauty
6. Fertility or incompleteness
Good ethical theories must satisfy several criteria in addition to the
above list that ethics shares with science.
These additional criteria come about by the differences between
philosophy and science and by the peculiar nature of the subject matter of
ethics, morality.
7. Compatibility with the most basic and rational moral convictions
8. Precision and comprehensiveness
9. Justifiable by good reasons