Syllabus for PHIL 5530 (Spring 2008)
PHILOSOPHY 5530 ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY Instructor: Email: Office:
Edward Barbanell, Ph.D. Phone: 585-6423 (or 581-3811) (course email is different; see WebCT below)
[email protected] 144 Sill Center (due East of Olpin Union, across the Visitor parking lot)
Office Hours: Mondays: 10:30 – 12:00 Tuesdays: 1:00 – 2:00 Wednesdays: 1:00 – 2:00 (I am happy to make appointments to meet with students at other times as well.)
COURSE OVERVIEW: The major questions that will be addressed in this course are: what is “nature” or “the environment”, how have particular conceptions of these more encompassing concepts taken shape and changed over time, and how do human beings figure into and/or construct those concepts? The way we will formulate and try to address these questions is by working through (analyzing) three conceptually distinguishable and historically cohesive epochs: the flight from nature, the return journey back to nature, and the discoveries we make upon our arrival back there again. The flight from nature, which we can trace from the end of the Paleolithic period through to the beginning of the nineteenth century, can be couched in terms of “human exceptionalism” – the idea that humans are “in, but not of, nature.” – as it develops from the Greek philosophers on through the middle ages and the intellectual renaissance. The return journey begins most clearly in North America, starting with Emerson, and continuing on with Thoreau, Muir, and Leopold (and Abbey?). But when, in the latter half of the 20th century, we do “return” to nature, we find that it is substantially different than when we (intellectually) left it: there is not one “nature,” but several, each a legitimate construct issuing from the various wants, hopes and needs of society. Have we gotten back to the wrong nature, or is this what “nature” was all along? Students will be expected to write one short (7‐10 page) paper and one final (9‐12 page) paper, as well as complete weekly critical response papers (2‐4 page).
REQUIRED TEXTS: 1.) Nash, Roderick. Wilderness & The American Mind. 4th Ed. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001). 2.) Cronon, William (ed.) Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature. (New York, W. W. Norton, 1996). 3.) A number of journal articles and book chapters accessed through the WebCT page for this course (see WebCT below). It is expected that you will bring either a hard copy or an electronic version of the reading(s) we’ll be discussing on a particular day to class. Failure to do so may negatively affect your grade. ADA Statement: The University of Utah seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and activities for people with disabilities. If you will need accommodations in this class, reasonable prior notice needs to be given to the instructor and to the Center for Disability Services, 162 Olpin Union Bldg, 581-5020 (V/TDD) to make arrangements for accommodations. This information is available in alternative format with prior notification.
1
Syllabus for PHIL 5530 (Spring 2008)
WebCT: In addition to containing links to the required readings, WebCT will be used as the primary way to communicate among students and your Instructor; to chart your performance (grades); and to supply you with other useful information about the course and the University. You should have automatically been connected to the WebCT pages for this course (and any other courses that use WebCT) by being registered for the course. You can access the WebCT pages for your course(s) either (1) through your student portal page, at my.utah.edu (no “www”), under the “Academics” tab, or (2) through the WebCT link on the University’s home page, www.utah.edu.
EVALUATION AND GRADING: Your course grade will be determined from your performance on the following: Critical Responses* Midterm Paper (7-10 pages) Final Paper (8-12 pages)
30 % (throughout the semester) 30 % (due Thursday, Feb. 21) 40 % (due Mon., Apr. 28)
*Critical Responses (CRs) will consist of short (2-4 page) evaluations of/responses to the reading assignments. They will usually be assigned on a Thursday and due on the following Tuesday; they will relate to the reading(s) assigned for the week they are due. While there won’t be a CR due every week, students should expect to do one for most weeks. Final Grade: A : 92.6 – 100 pts A-: 90 – 92.5 pts
B+: 87.6 – 89.9 C+: 77.6 – 79.9 D: 60 – 69.9 B : 83.6 – 87.5 C : 73.6 – 77.5 E: