Category Archive
The following is a list of all entries from the Assignments category.
Argument Outline 4
Due Wednesday, November 5.
Don Brown, an environmental ethicist and specialist in environmental law, argues that climate change has moral and ethical dimensions, and he claims that the American public and policy-makers are not taking these dimensions seriously. Brown identifies eight ethical issues related to climate change.
Watch the video or read the transcript of his speech here.
Evaluate one of these issues or the overall question of whether climate change presents a moral problem according to any of the ethical frameworks we’ve developed. You are certainly not required to agree with Don Brown, but you are expected to offer an argument (and a response) supporting your view. You may perform additional internet research, if you wish, but please cite your sources.
Considering the ethical implications of climate change is a new philosophical problem, and one that I think is important to take up. You can read some of my earlier thoughts here.
Hint: narrower problems usually make for more successful arguments because there is less confusion about what the issue is.
If you wish, you can read more about each of these issues in the “White Paper on the Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change”: http://www.webethics.net/padova2008/doc/pdf/edcc-whitepaper.pdf
Here is an associated blog: http://climateethics.org/
UPDATE: The primary link above stopped working on Tuesday, Nov. 14. Here are some alternatives:
My recommendation is that you watch the video on YouTube.
Other options provide more information and argument than the video and include the white paper linked above, a PowerPoint presentation that you can download at the bottom of this page, and the ClimateEthics blog. Let me suggest the first post as an introduction to the issues that would be suitable background for writing the outline, but more ideas are found throughout the blog’s posts.
If you use one of these written sources, you may find it difficult to put the technical language in your own words. But copying without attribution is plagiarism. So always try to put the ideas in your own words, and when you cannot, use quotation marks and an attribution, like this:
“I agree (or disagree) with Dr. Konrad Ott, who has argued that we have a moral duty to “Consider ‘clean coal’ options carefully so that this technology is not adopted before its ability to reduce emissions is demonstrated.” (http://climateethics.org/?p=40)
Argument Outline 3
ETHICS OF ACTIVISM: Animal Rights
Due Wednesday, October 15.
Consider these activities of animal rights activists:
1. There have been several firebombings of the homes of research scientists in California in recent years. Although no one has claimed responsibility, the police believe that they are the work of animal-rights extremists. There have also been many cases of personal threats, harassment, and vandalism of researchers’ private property. For instance, last February six masked intruders tried to force their way into the home of a UC-Santa Cruz researcher during a birthday party for her young daughter. One of the researchers targeted by a firebomb is a neurobiologist who uses mice in studies of how the brain’s visual system develops. News story and analysis here and here (also a class handout).
2. In 2004, animal activists illegally broke into a private egg production facility, owned and run by Wegmans, in Wolcott, NY. The facility housed 750,000 laying hens in battery cages and, other than being a very large farm, was similar to other egg farms across the country. The activists filmed the conditions, including dead and sick chickens in unsanitary conditions, and made the film widely available. The animal activists were sued by Wegmans, and Wegmans eventually sold the egg farm (though still uses it as a source of eggs). More information at http://www.wegmanscruelty.com/
3. A number of animal rights activists have created alternatives to animal dissections in schools and colleges. These include models, videos, and interactive computer simulations. Examples can be seen here: http://www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=92
Pick one of these activities of animal rights activists (or some other activity that involves animal rights) and evaluate whether it can be ethically supported. If it cannot be supported, be sure to explain why. If it should be supported, evaluate whether doing so is an obligation or a merely a consideration. Depending on the case you pick and your argument supporting it, you might need to distinguish whether your position is in the realm of personal responsibility or public policy. You may support your view with any of the ethical frameworks we have considered so far: deontology, consequentialism, virtue, or justice.
Here are a few more links:
Wikipedia, “List of Animal Rights Groups”
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and PETA’s blog
2nd Argument Outline
Due Monday, October 6
Eating is something that we all do several times each day. We eat not just for sustenance, but also as a source of pleasure and, often, as a time of companionship.
Collectively, the choices we make about food have a major impact on our lives, on the lives of others, and on the economy. Until this decade, farming has always been the largest industry on a global scale. Agriculture still makes up about 36% of the global economy.
In spite of the central place of food in our lives, we tend not to think about what we eat, where it comes from, how it was made, or why we’ve chosen to eat it. Even philosophers have perhaps not paid as much attention to the role of food in human life as they ought.
This assignment has more room for originality than the previous one. Following the general argument outline format, construct an argument defending a stance that is related to food choices or food production. You may make use of any ethical framework we’ve covered so far (deontology, consequentialism, virtue ethics) or you may express your own ethical reasoning. You may focus on personal moral choice or on social policies.
Also, this is an opportunity to explore the justification for a position that you may not have thought through before. For instance, you may choose to defend vegetarianism even though you are not yourself a committed vegetarian.
You are responsible for doing any necessary web research. But do not copy anyone else’s words off the Internet—express the ideas in your own way. Cite your sources, please.
Here are some possible topics with a few links to get you started:
— vegetarianism
— buying local agricultural products, reducing food miles, and slow food
— organic farming
— farm subsidies
— farmworker rights
— biotechnology and food
— famine reduction
— food security (including access to food, control over pathogens, and control over toxics)
— obesity and diet-related illness
— fair trade
— agriculture and biodiversity
— treatment of farm animals
Argument Outline 1
ARGUMENT OUTLINE 1: POPULATION CONTROL
Due Wednesday, September 24. The general format of an argument outline can be found in the sidebar to the left. Direct link.
The current global population is over 6.5 billion people. There is much evidence that at rates of Western consumption, the current population size cannot be sustained. Global population is forecast to reach 9 billion by 2050, and then to keep growing. At the most efficient rates of consumption, the upper limit for a sustainable population is estimated to be right about 9 billion.
Population size is an important issue for environmental ethics. Some argue it is the most important issue because all other policies are moot if the size of the global population is not brought under control. If current rates of population growth are not reversed, then famine and disease will limit population size. Nearly all problems of resource use and environmental degradation are in one way or another linked to population size. However, limiting population growth is a difficult issue because many policy options involve violations of what many believe to be non-negotiable individual freedoms and reproductive rights.
Give an argument supporting or criticizing a means of controlling population size through national policy. Limit your support to arguments that would be expressed either by a deontologist or a utilitarian.
For instance, you might choose to support China’s one-child policy and do so for a reason that a Kantian would approve of. (The objection need not be expressed according to any particular ethical framework.) Your position will be stated in #2. Also state the framework you are adopting in #2 or #3.
I would expect you to spend at least an hour on background reading and research. Not everyone will read the same thing or have the same interests, and this self-directed reading and research will be the basis for our discussion on Wednesday, Sept. 24. (Please do keep track of what you’ve read, as I may ask.)
Some suggestions for starting your research:
Global population size: what the problem is
Treehugger: “The Elephant in the Room: Overpopulation”
Hoover Institute: “The Population Bomb Redux”
Wikipedia: “Malthusian Catastrophe”
China’s One-child Policy
Wikipedia: “One-child Policy”
BBC News: “Has China’s One-child Policy Worked?”
The U.S.
CSMonitor: “Fuse on the ‘Population Bomb’ Has Been Relit”
Salon: “Ask Pablo, population control”
Other nations
Wikipedia: “Population control”
Committee on Women, Population, and the Environment: “Resources on Population Control”
For Bill McKibben Fans:
