Class #2, 8/30/10

**Roster, etc.
----->Note:  No class next week, 9/6.  It's Labor Day.

**Due:  Assignment on definitions:  environment, ecology, nature.

**Discussion over definitions--
----->environment
----->ecology
----->nature

**Discussion over Exhibit A--influential examples of Western nature poetry:
----->The Bible:  Genesis 1--the first creation story;
----->----->other key passages:  Psalms 8 & 29, Romans 10 (handout);
----->----->three poems from G.M. Hopkins (handout);
----->----->by contrast:  Millay, Shelley (handout).

**Exhibit B:  Nature in the roots of Western philosophy:
----->"Nature" in Platonist and Stoic thought (handout).

**The debate--Is civilization or religion to blame for the destruction of the natural environment?
----->Lynn White;
----->Patrick Dobel.

**For 9/13: 
----->Begin reading Chapter 2, "Animal Rights:"
----->----->Immanuel Kant, Rational Beings Alone Have Moral Worth, pp 62ff.
----->----->Peter Singer, A Utilitarian Defense of Animal Liberation, pp 73ff.
----->Read Dale Jamieson's "Against Zoos," pp 97ff. 
----->----->Write a page:  Do you agree with Jamieson's argument?  What is your experience with zoos?  Should they be closed?

Welcome! Class #1, 8/23/10

Agenda for tonight:

1. Welcome/General Orientation/Roster Check.
2. Textbook and materials.
3. Course overview, syllabus and calendar.
4. Finding Things.
5. Philosophy, Philosophical Method, and Applied Fields of Philosophy.
6. Environmental Ethics.
7. Handouts and assignment for 8/30.
8. Complete info sheet and survey.

Resources:

• The text for this class is an anthology. Here are the specs:
  Environmental Ethics: Readings in Theory and Application
  Louis P. Pojman and Paul Pojman
  Wadsworth Publishing, 5th Edition, 2007
  ISBN-13: 978-0495095033
• Syllabus/Course Description. 
• Course Calendar.

Next Class:  8/30/10.

• Do:  Reflection #1--Basic Definitions.
• Read:  
• Introduction, pp. 1-3.
• What is Ethics, pp. 4-7; be prepared to discuss the questions.
• Reading #1, from Genesis.
• Reading #2, Lynn White, "The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis;" please decide whether you agree or disagree with Prof. White.  On what grounds?
• Reading #3, Patrick Dobel, "The Judaeo-Christian Stewardship Attitude to Nature."