In-class discussion

Overview of ontological and epistemological shifts in the development of environmental ethics

Group discussion:

391, # 3

406, #'s 1, 5, 6

Informal writing:

What connections do you see between

virtue ethics - including the virtue of compassion -

and

an environmental ethic

both theoretically - i.e., in the consequences of one or more virtue ethics -

and practically -e.g., in the experience of Loren Eiseley?

Assignment for Thursday, April 30, 1998:

Boss, ch. 11, 407-422 (Is Virtue Relative?)

Informal Writing:

411f., # 1 OR 2: 6, 7

414f., # 1 OR 2: 3 OR 4

419, # 1,4, 5

421, # 2

Additional Reading:

Group 1: William F. Baxter, "People or Penguins" (Arthur, 143ff.)

Group 2: J. Baird Callicott, "The Land Ethic" (Arthur, 148ff.)

Group 3: Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva, "Introduction to Ecofeminism" (reserve, Olin Library)

Group 4: Richard E. Rice, Raymond E. Gullison and John W. Reid, "Can Sustainable Management Save Tropical Forests?" (Scientific American, April 1997, 44-49: reserve, Olin Library)

Informal writing:

a) If you can endorse a virtue ethics as part of your ethical framework - which virtues seem most significant, and why?

b) By now we will have examined a series of possible environmental ethics:

"traditional"/hierarchical (Cartesian) - "anthropocentrism," including Baxter's utilitarian/cost-benefit approach to environmental problems.

animal rights (Singer)

more holistic views - including Leopold's Land Ethic and Ecofeminism

Which of these ethics

I) seems most plausible or defensible to you?

II) seems most in keeping with the virtue ethics you endorse in "a)"?