List+of+Assigned+Readings

= READING AND ONLINE WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE - DRAFT = = =

JUNE 8 to JUNE 13
**SECTION #1 TOPICS**: What is Environmental Ethics? Environmental Frameworks? What is the status of the environment?
 * SECTION #1 READINGS**:
 * 1) **Palmer** (15-37) (see webct for pdf);
 * 2) **Leopold** (38-46) (see webct for pdf);
 * 3) **Sylvan** (47-52) (see webct for pdf);
 * 4) **Andrew Light's introduction** to environmental ethics - strongly recommended;
 * 5) **Overview of Ethics:** a) [|Ethical Theories Compared] - good brief overview; c) [|Basic Ethical Terms] - brief overview; d) [|Ethical Relativism vs Absolutism] - recommended - quick online powerpoint; e) Ethics – [|Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Ethics] - strongly recommended if you have not taken a philosophy course - fairly easy to read; f) [|Historical Overview of Ethics by Peter Singer] - recommended;
 * 6) **Status of the Environment** – a) [|UNEP-Global Environmental Outlook for Decision makers] - an excellent document (read pages 4-19; pgs 20-36 is recommended); b) State of Consumption pdf - see webct for pdf; c) [|Projected Global Warming Impacts on California] d) [|Encyclopedia of Earth - Central Valley Grasslands] - recommended; e) [|Earth Trends] - LOTS of info here, very detailed - recommended; f) [|Ecoregions of the World (Encyl of Earth)] - recommended


 * **SECTION #1 DISCUSSION THREAD DUE DATE:** **JUNE 12 & 14** - see [|COURSE CALENDAR]

** JUNE 14 to JUNE 20 **
**SECTION #2** **TOPICS**: Moral Considerability: Who counts in environmental ethics? Individualism vs Holism vs ??
 * SECTION #2 READINGS**:
 * 1) Singer (55-64);
 * 2) Regan (65-73) – recommended;
 * 3) Katz (85-94);
 * 4) Varner (95-113)
 * **SECTION #2 DISCUSSION THREAD DUE DATE**: ** JUNE 18 & 20 ** - see [|COURSE CALENDAR]

JUNE 20 to JUNE 26
**SECTION #3 TOPICS:** Is Nature Intrinsically Valuable? Justifications?
 * SECTION #3 READINGS:**
 * 1) Rolston (143-153);
 * 2) Lee (154-162);
 * 3) Norton (163-174);
 * 4) Hargrove (175-190) – recommended
 * **SECTION #3 DISCUSSION THREAD DUE DATE:** ** JUNE 24 & 26 ** - see [|COURSE CALENDAR]

** JUNE 26TH TO JULY 7th **
**SECTION #4 TOPICS:** Alternate EE Frameworks/Perspectives/ **Applied Environmental Ethics** **SECTION #4 READINGS:** **REQUIRED (in EE (Light) Text):** 43 pages
 * 1) **[|ARNE NAESS]** (262-274) - REQUIRED - a relatively "easy" reading; from within the "analytic"/pragmatism(?)" school but he defies easy categorization. Click on his name for the interesting wiki site on Naess - it's quite interesting and includes some basic stuff you should know about Naess and Deep Ecology...
 * 2) **DALE JAMIESON** (371-379) - REQUIRED - VERY RELEVANT to our discussions about climate change. This reading picks up from where we left off and really develops some knotty implications that follow from serious consideration of climate change - ie, it's not so clear who the "moral agents" and the moral patients are... so climate change presents unique "ethical challenges" in simply trying to figure out who is "responsible." Jamieson presented at the recent APA in SF at the end of the conference... //Easy reading overall//
 * 3) **ROBERT ELLIOT** (381-389) - REQUIRED - "Faking Nature" is the title of this piece and it's fascinating. Elliot discusses restoration and the aesthetic value of nature (among other topics) and explores to what degree we can apply an art world approach to aesthetics to that of the environment. //Moderately difficult//
 * 4) **ANDREW LIGHT** (229-244) - REQUIRED - "The Case for a Practical Pluralism" - If you are wondering, "how are all these debates - intrinsic value vs APC talk vs spiritual vs materialist; etc - going to GET us anywhere?" then this is the reading for you. Light suggests a "reorientation" in the field of EE - let's just put aside these intractable debates and instead focus on the fact that, despite varied metaphysical views, we all generally AGREE on public policy and the environment. //Difficult reading in places.//
 * 5) **MICHAEL POLLEN** - "[|The Food Movement]" - REQUIRED - This is an EXCELLENT article from the current issue of the New York Review of Books and details the complexities involved in the new "food movement" in the U.S., a movement that crosses ideological boundaries - from the left to libertarianism; from secular minded to evangelicals. It's an easy read, and will bring you up to date on what's happening now. For a critical view of the "food movement", you can check out the recent article in the SF Chronicle, "[|Battle Over Slow Food Heats Up in the Heartland - Agriculture establishment fighting back at the movement]" (//note - the article features quotes by some local dairy farmers from Denair - one of whom I talked with at the recent Great Valley conference in Modesto. In his presentation at the Great Valley Conference he ridiculed Michael Pollen. I asked him if he had actually read Pollen's books. He said no, he hadn't. Hmmm. So take a look at Pollen and see if he is "narrow-minded" or is trying to present a comprehensive view of this new food movement...)// Enjoy!

**RECOMMENDED READINGS IN EE (Light) Text:**
 * 1) **GRETA GAARD** (276-293) - RECOMMENDED - Ecofeminism overview - we completely overlooked the contributions of feminist scholarship to environmental ethics. Feminism is often derided as "old school/been there, done that", usually by those with very limited exposure to the actual writings of actual feminists. : ) There's a lot of really interesting stuff within feminism.
 * 2) **ERIC KATZ** (390-397) - RECOMMENDED - "The Big Lie: Human Restoration of Nature" - also about restoration in nature. //Easy reading//
 * 3) **BAIRD CALLICOTT** (437-443) - RECOMMENDED - A "Critique of and Alternative to the Wilderness Idea" - is there a "downside" to distinguishing between "wilderness" (ie, the area we entered into during our Kennedy Meadows hike) and "non-wilderness"? Callicott explores this and is concerned about making such distinctions. //Easy reading//
 * 4) **HOLMES ROLSTON III** (451-462) - RECOMMENDED - "Feeding People vs. Saving Nature" - the title says it all. If you are concerned about poverty, hunger, food insecurity (common even here in the valley) with respect to homo sapiens, then it would do you well to read this peice by Rolston. //Easy reading//
 * 5) **BRIAN BARRY** (487-499) - RECOMMENDED - "Sustainability and Intergenerational Justice" - We didn't really touch on the important concept, "sustainability" while at Baker station. This reading discusses this concept in light of the question, "does justice apply not only between present-time individuals but between present and future generations? Good stuff here.
 * Recommended CONTINENTAL READINGS found in PDF folder on "webct home page"**:
 * 1) Freya Matthews, "Reinhabiting Reality" (panpsychism) - ch.1 AND cH. 2 - //moderately difficult reading//
 * 2) Kenneth Liberman, "an Inquiry into the Intercorporeal Relations Between Humans and the Earth (based on Merleau-Ponty) - //difficult reading//
 * 3) //David Abrams "A More-Than-Human World" - easy and fun reading//
 * 4) //Steven Vogel, "Nature as Origin and Difference: On Environmental Philosophy and Continental Thought" - Difficult reading//

**GLOSSARY ENTRIES DUE: June 26**
 * **SECTION #4 DISCUSSION THREAD DUE DATE**: ** JULY 7 ** - see [|COURSE CALENDAR]


 * FINAL PAPER DUE - JULY 9th, 11:59PM**