courses:Environmental Philosophy
Political Science 4613, Spring 2008

Jeffrey Alan Johnson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Government and Philosophy
Department of History and Government

Climate change. Pollution. Habitat preservation. Resource conservation. Environmental issues are among the most pressing and contentious in contemporary politics. This course will address three major philosophical questions as they are presented in environmental politics. The classic question of ethics, "what is the good?," asks us to consider why we should value the environment, and whether it should be valued above other goods like liberty or economic growth. The distribution of the harms to and benefits of the environment and the arguments about whether rights extend beyond humans pose the first question asked of political philosophy, "what is justice?" Environmental debates often revolve around conflicting claims of scientific evidence, making the philosophical question of "what is science?" a key political one as well.

Course Objectives
The aim of my courses is to develop knowledge. Knowledge is different from information. Information is raw data. It is useless as such; only when it is turned into something that tells you about the world is information useful. Knowledge is information that has been processed into conclusions one can use to explain, predict, and act reliably in the real world. In my courses you will learn how to turn information into knowledge and communicate it to others as a professional. Students who successfully complete this course will have achieved the following.

Improvement in the following basic skills:

  1. Analytical reasoning. This means drawing sound conclusions using the knowledge that you have to turn new information into new knowledge. You must learn to make evaluations of evidence and use general concepts to understand specific situations in ways consistent with logical reasoning.

  2. Communication. This means effectively conveying knowledge in speech and writing. You must master, at a minimum, English spelling, grammar, and style. But you must master as well the ability to express your ideas simply, briefly, and logically.

  3. Professionalism. This means upholding the standards of conduct that guide persons of responsibility. You must pursue excellence in your work, accountability for your conduct, and respect for yourself and others in your attitude. "Good enough to get away with" is the great enemy of professionalism. More detailed guidance in professional conduct in my classes is described in the Standards of Performance and Conduct.

Knowledge of the following aspects of political science and philosophy:

  1. Students will understand the basic issues in the philosophy of scientific inquiry, justice, and the good and the application of these questions to environmental policies and practices.

  2. Students will be able to effectively relate philosophical questions and theories of environmental issues to their own personal behavior.

Online Enhancements
This course is Blackboard enhanced. All students must register for the course on Blackboard at http://blackboard.cameron.edu by the end of the first week under course number ps4613_s08. There will be weekly assignments to complete on Blackboard as well as materials to enhance your study. For enrollment instructions, see http://www.cameron.edu/online/student_prep.html. This course is listed under "History/Government" in the online course catalog. If you have difficulties enrolling, go to the CU Online Helpdesk page at http://www.cameron.edu/online/helpdesk.html.

The course will also use the TurnItIn.com plagiarism detection system. All essays must be submitted through BOTH Blackboard (for grading) AND TurnItIn (for evaluation of originality). Students will receive TII enrollment instructions during the third week of class. Those instructions will be sent to your official Cameron student email account. To access that account if you do not use it regularly, see the instructions on the studentemail.cameron.edu login page.

Assignments and Evaluation
Students will complete the following assignments:

  1. Reaction Paper. Students will need to submit, through the Blackboard Discussion Board, a critical response (e.g., a summary AND evaluation, elaboration, or application) of approximately 250 words to each reading. These will be graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Satisfactory responses are those that show adequate understanding of and critical reflection on the material in question, and must be posted before the beginning of class; they will receive five points. Unsatisfactory or late responses will receive no credit. Total credit for response papers will be 60 points.

  2. Participation in field trips and speakers. Contingent on availability and scheduling, we will have several field trips and guest speakers during the semester. Participation in each is worth 15 points, and will be documented by a response paper to be submitted via Blackboard no later than the following class meeting. Students who cannot participate in a field trip or guest speaker may receive credit by writing a paper of approximately 1,000 words describing and philosophically analyzing the topic of the trip or speaker.

  3. Three examinations. These examinations will consist of a choice of essay questions and are worth 50 points each. Questions will be made available the previous class meeting. The exam will be completed outside of class and turned in at the beginning of class on the exam day. It must be no more than one single-spaced, typed page. We will discuss the exam in class that day.

  4. Personal Project. Students will undertake a personal project that examines a particular philosophical issue in environmental affairs and uses that knowledge in some form of environmental practice. Students will develop the project in consultation with the instructor. The paper documenting the project must describe the project, examine the philosophical issues relevant to it, and document the activities and outcome of the project. Periodic progress reports intermediate works will be required. The project is worth 200 points.

  5. Nature Experience. Schedule permitting, the class will take a weekend camping trip to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge late in the semester. The aim of this trip is to encourage appreciation of and reflection on the natural world. Students will write a paper of 1,000 words reflecting on the experience in relation to course material. The paper is worth 50 points. Students who cannot participate in the camping trip should arrange for an experience on their own, which must last no less than 8 hours.

Grades will be assigned using the following scale: A (90%-100%); B (80%-89.9%); C (70%-79.9%); D (60%-69.9%); F (below 60%). Grades will be round to the nearest 0.1%.

All written work should be prepared according to the Style Manual for Political Science. You may purchase a copy from the American Political Science Association or rely on an online summary. For matters not covered by the Style Manual for Political Science, rely on the Chicago Manual of Style or A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Kate Turabian. Political science majors are strongly encouraged to purchase a copy of the APSA Style Manual and of Turabian.

Exams and major papers may be submitted late without penalty only with my consent, given no later than 24 hours before the assignment is due. Where prior consent is not practical, documentation of circumstances that prevented both the timely submission of the assignment and consultation with me will be required; such extensions will be allowed only for unavoidable circumstances. The maximum extension without penalty will be 72 hours. Other late assignments will be penalized 10% of the maximum value of the assignment for each day or portion thereof that the assignment is late.

Students who must miss an exam must contact me as soon as the circumstances requiring this are known, and not less than one week before the exam. Where this is not practical, documentation of circumstances that both require the student to miss the exam and prevented consultation with me will be required. Students will be allowed to miss exams only for unavoidable circumstances or university-sponsored events that require their presence. Travel for personal reasons is not an unavoidable circumstance.

Because I will no longer be working at Cameron University after this semester, no incomplete grades can be given for this course under any circumstances. In extreme circumstances I will do all I can to facilitate withdrawal from the course for students who cannot complete the work within the semester.

Readings
There is no required text. All readings will be available online through Blackboard and may be printed for free in the library.

Workload
According to the accreditation standards that validate your degree as a legitimate one, to receive three semester credit hours requires 135 hours of study, including not more than 45 hours in class. In this course, study hours are budgeted as follows:

Class Meetings:

40 hours

Readings and Response Papers:

21 hours

Exams:

18 hours

Camping Trip:

24 hours

Personal Project:

32 Hours

Outside commitments will not excuse students whose performance suffers because they cannot meet these requirements.

Course Schedule

Each class meeting will be devoted to a single reading. Students should be prepared to discuss the reading in class and should have a set of questions, issues, and/or applications to raise in relation to the reading.

Note that because the dates of field trips and guest lectures are not fixed, the schedule must be flexible. Topics will be addressed in the order below. Students are responsible for knowing where the class is in relation to the schedule as described in class meetings. Occasionally it may be necessary to address two readings in one class meeting or to delete some readings to maintain the schedule.

Class Meetings

I. Environmental Science

  1. Philosophy of science: David J. Hess, "The Philosophy of Science: An Interdisciplinary Perspective," in Science Studies: An Advanced Introduction (New York: New York University Press, 1997), pp. 6-51.

  2. Scientific knowledge and public policy: Richard N. L. Andrews, "Risk-Based Decision Making: Policy, Science, and Politics," in Norman J. Vig and Michael E. Kraft (eds.), Environmental Policy: New Directions for the Twenty-First Century (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2006), pp. 215-238.

  3. Science and precaution: Robert F. Durant with Thanit Boodphetcharat, "The Precautionary Principle," in Robert F. Durant, Daniel J. Fiorino, and Rosemary O'Leary (eds.), Environmental Governance Reconsidered: Challenges, Choices, and Opportunities (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2004), pp. 105-143.

  4. The scientific consensus on climate change: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, "Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis—Summary for Policymakers" (Geneva, 2007); available at http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg1/ar4-wg1-spm.pdf.

  5. Scientific criticism of climate change: reading TBA

II. Environmental Justice

  1. Distributive justice: Serge-Christophe Kolm, "Distributive Justice," in Robert E. Goodin and Phillip Pettit (eds.), A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy (Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1995), pp. 438-461.

  2. Relational justice: Iris Marion Young, "Displacing the Distributive Paradigm," in Justice and the Politics of Difference (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1990), pp. 15-38.

  3. Environmental rights: Troy W. Hartley, "Environmental Justice: An Environmental Civil Rights Value Acceptable to All World Views," in Andrew Light and Holmes Rolston III (eds.), Environmental Ethics: An Anthology (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 2003), pp. 478-486.

  4. Sustainability and justice: Brian Barry, "Sustainability and Intergenerational Justice," in Light and Rolston, pp. 487-500.

  5. International environmental justice: reading TBA.

  6. Environmental justice and political practice: Evan J. Ringquist, "Environmental Justice," in Durant et al., pp. 255-288.

  7. Environmental conflict: Rosemary O'Leary, Tina Nabatchi, and Lisa B. Bingham, "Environmental Conflict Resolution," in Durant et al., pp. 323-355.

III. Environmental Goods

  1. Consequential foundations of ethics: Shelly Kagan, "Teleological Foundations," in Normative Ethics, pp. 189-239.

  2. Principled foundations of ethics: Kagan, "Deontological Foundations," pp. 240-304.

  3. Nature and the human condition: Henry David Thoreau, Walden, selections TBA.

  4. Living with nature: Aldo Leopold, "The Land Ethic," in A Sand County Almanac (1949).

  5. Nature and untilitarianism: Peter S. Wenz, "Overpopulation, Markets and Human Rights" and "Energy, Economics, and Future Generations," in Environmental Ethics Today (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 19-58.

  6. Sustainability: Robert C. Paehlke, "Sustainability," in Durant et al., pp. 35-68

  7. Weak anthropocentrism: Bryan G. Norton, "Environmental Ethics and Weak Anthropocentrism," in Light and Rolston, pp. 163-174.

  8. Deep ecology: Warwick Fox, "Deep Ecology: A New Philosophy for Our Time?" in Light and Rolston, pp. 251-261.

  9. Ecofeminism: Greta Gaard and Lori Gruen, "Ecofeminism: Toward Global Justice and Planetary Health," in Light and Rolston, pp. 276-293.

Exams
Note that dates are approximate and may change according to schedule. Questions will be available on Blackboard.

  • Feb. 14: Exam 1 Due.

  • Mar. 27: Exam 2 Due.

  • May 6: Final Exam Due (10:00 A.M.). Location TBA, but probably somewhere that we can get a nice breakfast.

Personal Project Deadlines

Feb. 7: Project Proposal. In approximately 250 words, describe what you plan to do. Post your proposal to the discussion forum on Blackboard. Make an appointment to discuss which philosophical issues may be involved with Prof. Johnson. Include at least three project updates on Blackboard before the Preliminary Project Report is due. 25 points.

March 13: Philosophical Discussion. In approximately 1,500 words, identify the major philosophical issue that your project presents and review the main approaches to that issue. Submit as a standard written paper appropriately formatted. 25 points

April 3: Preliminary Project Report. In approximately 1,500 words, describe the aim, procedure, and outcome of your project. Submit as a standard written paper appropriately formatted. 25 points.

April 24: Final Paper Due. In approximately 5,000 words, describe the project and outcome, review the philosophical issues involved, and analyze your project in relation to the outcome. Submit as a standard written paper appropriately formatted. 100 points.

April 29-May 1: Project Presentations. Prepare a presentation of approximately 10 to 15 minutes explaining your project, outcome, and conclusions to the class. Use PowerPoint or another presentation technology as appropriate. 25 points.

Academic Conduct
All students are subject to the university's policies regarding academic integrity (Code of Student Conduct, Academic Regulations, sec. 5.07 et seq.). If you have questions about whether something would violate these policies, feel free to talk to me about how to avoid that. In general, the assignments permit you to discuss work done outside of class among yourselves, but each student must make one's own argument and write one's own paper. Plagiarism (the use of the ideas of others without attribution, whether quoted directly or indirectly) will especially not be tolerated; while additional research is commended, each student must properly cite ideas from other sources. For further information on avoiding plagiarism, see Basic Skills on my web site.

The minimum penalty for any violation of academic regulations, even one that is unintentional, shall be that the student will receive no credit for the assignment AND that a penalty equal to the value of the assignment will be assessed on the student's course grade. Any subsequent violations, including ones in subsequent courses, will be referred to Student Development for formal disciplinary proceedings under the Code of Student Conduct.

Personal Conduct
All members of the class must treat each other responsibly and with respect, and are subject to the university's regulations regarding disruptive behavior (Code of Student Conduct, Appendix B, esp. sec. b.6) and harassment (Code of Student Conduct, Responsibilities of the Student, sec. 2.02.x). Politics courses should breed controversy at times; students who go the whole semester without being offended by something or someone are not paying attention. At times, I may try to offend in order to impress a point on the class or characterize a particular position as offensive. Tolerance in my classes means the opportunity (and perhaps the obligation) to respond substantively to positions that one sees as offensive and not to restrain voicing of such opinions. University regulations will be interpreted and applied with this in mind. However, personal attacks or other disrespectful behavior will not be tolerated. I strongly encourage students to bring to my attention any concerns about class conduct, including my own.

Email
All correspondence between students and the instructor is to be treated in a professional manner. I will not respond to any messages from inappropriate email addresses, or to messages with sensitive contents where the address is held by anyone other than the student. All communication should use correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization. For useful information on email etiquette, see "What is Netiquette?" and "The Core Rules of Netiquette."

Disability Accommodations
It is the policy of Cameron University to accommodate students with disabilities, pursuant to federal and state law. Students with disabilities who need classroom accommodations must make their requests by contacting the Office of Student Development at (580) 581-2209, North Shepler Room 314. Students with recognized physical or educational disabilities will be granted accommodations as permitted under University policy, provided that I am informed of the need for accommodation in a timely manner. For further details on disability accommodations, see the Disabled Student Services web site.

Student Privacy
Under the United States Family and Educational Rights to Privacy Act, all student records are considered private. Information regarding student performance or behavior will not be communicated except in person directly to the student or in writing to the student's mailing address of record without expressed written consent from the student. Grades will not be communicated by phone or email, nor can they be communicated to anyone other than the student, including parents, without such consent except as required by law.

Withdrawal
The last date to withdraw from this course with an automatic "W" is April 14. The last day to withdraw for any reason for April 28. Between the withdrawal dates, the instructor has the option of assigning a grade of "W" or "F."

Revision of Policies and Syllabi
All policies are provisional, and are subject to addition, deletion, change, or waiver with or without notice when, in the sole judgment of the instructor, doing so would further the educational goals of the course. Revision of the documents on the instructor's web site shall constitute notice of changes in policies for which students are held responsible. While the instructor will endeavor to notify students of such changes through announcements in class, students are encouraged to review these policies and the course syllabus periodically for changes. Changes after the beginning of the term will be identified with a revision date.

Where these policies conflict with university regulations, university regulations shall prevail.