Environmental Ethics Questions

Clare Palmer

1.  What is the difference between anthropocentric an non-Anthropocentric approaches to environmental ethics?
2. Explain individualist, consequentialist ethical theory.  Give an example of such an ethical theory.
3. What is the problem of replaceability faced by hedonistic utilitarian ethical theory?
4. What problem do individualistic deontological ethical theories face concerning diversity?
5. How do holist ethical views differ from individualist views?
6. On what grounds have some holist environmental ethical views inspired the label “environmental facism”?
7. What is Guha’s challenge to the ethics of wilderness preservation?
8. What are Callicott’s concerns about the notion of wilderness?  How does Rolston respond to these?
9. Explain Eric Katz’s doubts about the possibility of wilderness restoration.
10. How does Lo see the matter of wilderness restoration?

Aldo Leopold

1. How does Leopold see his land ethic as an extension of traditional ethical thinking?
2. How does Leopold motivate the idea that the land has intrinsic value in terms of community?
3. How does Leopold contrast the roles of conqueror and citizen?
4. What is the land on Leopold’s view?
5. What does Leopold mean by talk of violence to the land?
6. What is it to have an ecological conscience?
7. What is right and wrong according to Leopold’s land ethic.

Richard Sylvan (Routley)

1. Leopold see his land ethic as an extension of traditional Western ethical thinking. Routley disagrees.  Explain.
2. Describe Routley’s though experiment and how it indicates the plausibility of the natural world having non-insturmental value.
3. How must traditional conceptions of rights and liberty be changed to accommodate an environmental ethic?

Peter Singer

1. What does Singer take to be the historical source of the lack of regard for the welfare of non-human animals in Western ethical traditions?
2. What is Singer’s criterion for moral considerability?

Tom Regan

1. How does a commitment to animal welfare differ from being against cruelty?
2. Regan think the advocate of animal welfare has a problem in answering the question of what ought to be don to advance animal welfare (especially where this seems to conflict with human interests).  Explain this problem.
3. What tension do we find in concern for the welfare of individual animals and concern for the welfare of animals in general (including humans)?
4. Regarding human use of animals, how do advocates of animal rights go beyond concern for the welfare of animals?
5. Why is recognizing and equally counting the interest of all insufficient for animal liberation?
6. What challenge to animal rights an animal liberation is raised by deep ecology?
7. What similarities do we find between deep ecology and animal welfare and anti-cruelty positions?

Andrew Light (Ecological Restoration)

1. What are the purposes of environmental philosophy on Light’s view?
2. Explain environmental pragmatism.  What is its stance on the non-anthropocentric value of nature?  What respective tasks does it identify for philosophers working within the philosophical community and without?
3. What is the pernicious kind of restoration identified by Robert Elliot in “Faking Nature”?
4. How does Light distinguish benevolent restorations from malicious restorations?
5. Eric Katz thinks ecological restoration is not possible.  Explain why not.
6. Katz is a nature/culture dualist.  What does this mean and what role does this view play in his arguments against ecological restoration?
7. Light argues that even if we grant Katz’s view that ecological restoration is not possible, we may still have a moral obligation to attempt ecological restoration.  Explain.
8. What is Katz’s domination argument?
9. How does Light respond to KR4 (Katz’s domination argument)?

Thoreau

1. When does Thoreau think we have a duty to disobey the state?
2. How does Throreau's view of the good life contrast with more popular conceptions?

Rolston "Feeding People versus Saving Nature

1. How does Rolston argue that preserving wilderness could in theory justly take priority over feeding the starving?
2. In what morally significant ways does Rolston suggest that preserving nature versus feeding the hungry is a false dichotomy?