Graduate Work in Environmental Ethics and Animal
Welfare
Colorado State University typically has about twenty graduate students, with over
half of them interested in environmental philosophy, animal welfare issues, and
international development issues. Holmes Rolston teaches environmental ethics
in the fall, typically Tuesday evenings, and usually a graduate seminar in the
spring, typically one evening. Philip Cafaro joined the faculty fall 1999 and
is now teaching environmental ethics, also offering graduate seminars and advising
in the field. There are typically about two relevant graduate seminars each semester
in philosophy, by Bernard Rollin, and others, and lots of other things elsewhere
in the university. A list of such classes is available: Environmental
Classes at Colorado State University. There are also some graduate students
working in the more traditional areas of philosophy. If a student has no previous
philosophy, there are about five general courses in the main areas of philosophy
required as "remedial" work, that is, they do not count toward 30 hours needed
for the master's degree.
Much of the graduate work is in applied areas, though there will
also be one or two more theoretical seminars. There is a required
seminar of all graduate students, "Philosophical Methodology."
Examples of graduate seminars offered are: "The Concept of Natural
Value," "Philosophical Models of Nature," "Animal Rights," "Seminar
in Environmental Philosophy" rotating around themes such as
"Biodiversity and Endangered Species: Philosophical and Ethical
Issues," "Aesthetic Appreciation of Nature," and "Environmental
Philosophy: Current Issues." Other seminars are: "International
Development Ethics" and "Obligations to Future Generations." Some
work may be taken in other departments, for example several
graduate classes in conservation biology, environmental policy, and
ecology.
There is both a thesis program and a course work program, without
thesis, depending on the interests of the student.
In recent years about five students each year have been completing theses.
The program typically takes two years. About half of the
students are on some form of financial support.
M. A. Theses Completed in Environmental Ethics and Animal
Welfare
J. Douglas Daigle, The Role of a Planetary Narrative in Environmental
Ethics, Spring 1993. Narrative as forming the larger unitary framework
in which to understand nature and the human place in nature, with a sense of
present crisis in the planetary store. The concluding chapter is on oceans
interpreted as the common heritage of humankind and their role in
contributing to a sense of global history. Doug first worked for Pacific
Environment and Resources Center, Sausalito, California, and now has a
position with the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisana, 200 Lafayette
Street, Suite 500, Baton Rouge, LA 70801-1203.
Leann Foster, The Self in Environmental Philosophy: Identification, Instrinsic
Value and an Ecology of Self and Nature, Spring 1994. The deep ecological
concept of self in comparison and contrast with the environmental ethical concept
of self. Deep ecologists, such as Warwick Fox and Freya Mathews, expand the self
into an identification with the whole, while environmental ethicists, such as
Holmes Rolston, maintain a sense of others, centers of intrinsic value in the
nonhuman natural world, who are morally considerable as others, differentiated
from one's own self, and to whom one has duties of respect. Nevertheless the deep
ecologists can find a place for pluralism and Rolston's ethic is based as much
on love as it is on duty. Both ways of thinking are contrasted with the traditional
concept of the autonomous self, represented by Kant. Leann graduated from the
University of Vermont Law School, May 1998, and practiced environmental law in
Trenton, New Jersey, with the firm Giordano, Halleran and Ciesla. She published
"Wild Lands and System Values: Our Legal Accountability to Wilderness," Vermont
Law Review 22 (no. 4, Summer, 1998):917-951. Now Leann Foster-Sitar,
she is Policy Director, American Littoral Society, Sandy Hook, Highlands, NJ,
doing coastal conservation.
Marguerite S. E. Forest, Ought and Can in Environmental Ethics: Ethical
Extensionism and Moral Development, Summer 1992. Extending the range of
moral concern from humans to animals to plants to ecosystems, compared with
stages in moral development. The position of J. Baird Callicott fails
because the full sequence of stages has not been developed. Lawrence
Kohlberg's concept of justice is inadequate because it is anthropocentric
and not holistic and ecosystemic. Carol Gilligan's caring orientation
integrates the needed holistic environmental ethics and the more advanced
moral stages. Marguerite, orginally from South Africa, is in a Ph.D.
program in geography at the University of Oregon.
Jeanne-Marie Bartas, The Tale of the Starry Heavens Above and the Moral
Law Within: Kant's Aesthetic Theory. Kant's aesthetic theory as a basis
for environmental ethics. Completed spring 1992. Jeanne was in the Peace
Corps in Africa, and is now in a graduate program in environmental
chemistry.
Christopher J. Preston, Reintegration with Nature: Against Dualist
Metaphysics. Cartesian metaphysics separates humans from nature; both
environmental philosophy and environmental science (especially Barbara
McClintock) offer possibilities for metaphysical reintegration with nature.
Completed fall 1992. Chris, who is from England, taught philosophy and
environmental ethics at Prince William Sound Community College, Valdez,
Alaska, then completed the Ph.D. program in philosophy at the University of
Oregon, with a thesis entitled: Epistemology and Environment: The Greening
of Belief, 1998. See that entry.
Preston published "Epistemology and Intrinsic Values,"
Environmental Ethics 20(1998):409-428. There he argues that J. Baird Callicott's
and Bryan Norton's claims that objective intrinsic value in nature are problematic
because they are based on a foundationalist and a realist epistemology are misplaced.
Holmes Rolston's position remains plausible, although further philosophical work
on intrinsic value needs to be done. Preston is also the author of "The Deep Ecology
Movement and Natural Resource Industries: Some Lessons from a Fishing Boat," The
Trumpeter 13(1996):167-172. In the summers he has worked on an Alaska fishing
boat that is also on standby alert for oil spills. The academic year 1998-1999
he was visiting professor of philosophy at the University of Montana. He is now
assistant professor of philosophy at the University of South Carolina, Columbia,
where he teaches environmental ethics. Preston published Grounding Knowledge:
Environmental Philosophy, Epistemology, and Place (Athens, GA: University
of Georgia Press, 2003).
Brenda Kay Hausauer, Philosophical and Literary Methodology: Holmes
Rolston's Literary Philosophical Methods. Spring 1993. The differences
between nature writing and environmental philosophy, comparing writer Annie
Dillard and philosopher Holmes Rolston. All philosophical texts should be
partially evaluated as artistic works. Rolston's more "non-philosophical"
and literary texts are examined for the blending of appeal to experience and
to argument. Rolston's non-philosophical, literary methods raise questions
which could help reconceive philosophy's traditional methodology. Hausauer
worked temporarily with an urban and environmental consulting firm promoting
recycling in Boston, MA. She and Les Blomberg took a joint position with
the Vermont Public Service Department rewriting their state energy plan,
with an analysis of principles, policy, ethics, and operations, working out
of Montpelier, Vermont. Since then Blomberg has taken the position
indicated below.
Les Blomberg, From Labor to Recreation: The Role of Non-Alienating
Wilderness Recreation. Fall 1993. Increased productivity from labor
using advanced technology and modern capitalization can result in more free
time from labor, although, in present economic emphases, the usual result is
continued labor and more productivity, with an escalating need to consume
what is produced. This produces alienation. Such free time can more
meaningfully be put to recreational uses, including appreciation of the
natural world, and one especially important area is wilderness recreation.
Here one is removed from the technology-production-consumption mode for re-
creation in the context of creation. In this respect, wilderness recreation
has interesting similarities to the traditional concept of the sabbath.
Blomberg and Brenda Hausauer took joint position with the Vermont Public
Service Department rewriting their state energy plan, with an analysis of
principles, policy, ethics, and operations, out of Montpelier, Vermont.
Blomberg is now Director of the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse, Montpelier,
Vermont.
Blomberg is featured in an article, "Noise Busters," in the Smithsonian magazine,
March 2001. "So think of Les Blomberg as the brainy, physics-savvy,
but vincible, protector of the noise oppressed. Think of him as that limited-budget
battler of rogue sound waves, Dr. Decibel!"
Lyanda Haupt, Bridging the Gaps: Theory and Practice in Radical
Environmental Activism. Fall 1993. Radical environmentalism lacks a
coherent philosophical basis, and the deep ecology to which it appeals is
unable to supply such a grouding. Much activist practice is undertaken
haphazardly and often undermines its own goals and proves self-defeating.
The Chipko movement and the Redwood Summer events offer more promise of a
successful, non-violent methodology that is well grounded philosophically.
Lyanda has published a short paper, "Scientists in Conservation Activism,"
Conservation Biology 9(1995):691-693.
Stephen N. Martin, The Moral Status and Well-Being of Animals:
Extremes in Animal Rights and Environmental Ethics.
Summer 1986. Although both animal rights and environmental
ethics oppose the anthropocentric morality that has traditionally
dominated ethical theory, their bases of opposition are
significantly different. An animal rights ethic expands the
previously human moral community, and is prepared to manipulate
natural processes for the benefit of the human and animal
community. The ethic is individualistic; the well-being of the
community aggregates the well-being of individuals. An
environmental ethic is systemic, holistic, and entities and
individuals are parts in this larger whole. Natural processes
are of value, and not to be manipulated for the benefit of
individuals. An analysis of the extremes of each position finds
quite different ideologies. Although they sometimes share common
goals, the proposed solutions of each ideology are meaningfully
different.
Martin finished a Ph.D. in geography at the
University of Florida, 1999, a study of differing human
perceptions of risk in natural threats (hurricanes) and in
human-caused threats (pollution from a pulp mill) in a Florida
coastal county. He is teaching geography and environmental
ethics at Florida State University, Tallahassee.
Katharine E. Rawles, Animal Welfare and Environmental Ethics. Fall
1990. Environmental ethics and animal welfare are not as antithetical as
portrayed in J. Baird Callicott's "triangular affair," but an environmental
ethics includes a concern for animal welfare, when animal welfare is
appropriately understood. Kate has since finished a Ph.D. at the University
of Glascow, Scotland, and has a teaching position at the University of
Lancaster, teaching philosophy, including environmental ethics. She has
published a number of papers in environmental ethics and animal
welfare. She is now an Honorary Research Fellow, University of Lancaster, and a "free lance
outdoor philosopher" in the English Lake District.
E-mail: kate@coniston-water.co.uk
Randall S. Rosenberger completed a M.A. degree in philosophy with a field concentration
(non-thesis degree) in agricultural and environmental ethics, fall 1992. He has
since continued in agricultural and resource economics and completed his Ph.D.
degree in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Spring 1996.
His thesis was: The Economic Value of Ranch Open Space: Efficiency and Equity
Implications. He is now Assistant Professor, Forest Resources, Oregon State
University, Corvallis.
Daniel M. Cowdin, Environmental Ethics and the Relationship Between Human
and Nonhuman Values. Spring 1986. Dan went on to complete a Ph.D. at
Yale University Divinity School, later taught at the Catholic University
of America, Department of Theology, and is now teaching religious studies,
Salve Regina University, Newport, Rhode Island.
Matthew J. McKinney, Wildlands Valuation and Decision Making. 1984. A philosophical
analysis of the values at stake in wildlands conservation and some principles
for political decison making that incorporate these principles. Matt went on to
complete a Ph.D. in natural resources at the University of Michigan, and was for
ten years Director of the Montana Consensus Council for Mediating Environmental
Disputes, a conflict resolution agency for the State of Montana, Helena. He is
now Senior Lecturer, School of Law, University of Montanta, Helena. He is an author
of: Harmon, William J., McKinney, Matthew J., and Burchfield, James A., "Public
Involvement and Dispute Resolution Courses in Natural Resources Schools," Journal
of Forestry 97(no.9, Sept. 1999):17- .
Randy Larsen, Environmental Virtue Ethics: Nature as Polis. Spring
1996. Virtue ethics, developing the Aristotelian tradition, has promise for
environmental ethics, although Aristotle's list of virtues needs to be
supplemented with environmental ones. "Tenacity" can serve
environmentalists, avoiding extremes of "apathy" and "obsession," finding a
balance between the existential experience of nature and advocacy for
environmental conservation. John Muir is an example of a successful holder
of this environmental virtue. Larsen is currently the host on a radio talk
show, "Eco-Talk," on station KZFR serving the area around Chico, California,
also syndicated on the Pacifica Radio Network with 67 radio stations in 27
states. Larsen also teaches environmental ethics at Chico State College,
Chico, California. Randy Larsen. e-mail: ecotalk@hotmail.com
Dan Evans completed a M.A. thesis on the choice of scientific theories in
the work of Thomas Kuhn, fall 1995, and is simultaneously enrolled at the
University of Colorado, Boulder in a degree course in ecology, expecting to
focus on conservation biology.
Andy Braks completed a M.A. thesis, fall 1997, Aristotle's Primary Substance:
The Bio-Platonic Motivations Behind Metaphysics Z and H. Aristotle stood in
the legacy of Plato, but has much more interest in biology. His thought develops
and for him, in the Metaphysics, primary substances are species forms, they define
concrete individual substances, although in Aristotle's earlier thought in the
Categories substances are primarily individuals. But Aristotle is unable to entertain
ideas similar to modern evolutionary ideas. His biological species-forms are essentially
unchanging and perpetually instantiated by a never-failing succession of living
individuals. Andy lives in Spokane, Washington, and teaches at Spokane Community
College.
Ronald Godzinski, Jr., completed a M.A. thesis, fall 1997, Hume's Emotivism
and Callicott's Environmental Ethic. J. Baird Callicott's environmental ethics
is founded on David Hume's moral epistemology. Hume has problems with the is/ought
fallacy, which Callicott believes he can overcome with the model of environmental
health. But making a rational appeal to persons to act ethically because they
are motivated by environmental health is more complex than Callicott realizes.
Further, Hume is either a subjectivist or an emotivist in ethics, and both views
have been subjected to severe criticisms. Callicott's environmental ethics needs
to face these criticisms. In fact, Callicott's whole line of reasoned argument
in defense of ecosystems and duties to conservation is not really permissible,
if Callicott really follows Hume, who does not concede the power of reason to
motivate behavior. Godzinski finished a Ph.D. program at the University of Southern
Illinois, Carbondale and is now teaching philosophy at Minnesota State Community
and Technical College, Fergus Falls, MN.
Sandra Kay Woodson completed a M.A. thesis, Callicott's Criteria for
Environmental Ethics and Advaita Vedanta, summer 1998. Callicott, in Earth
Insights, claims that Indian Advaita Vedanta, is too world-denying to be
useful as a foundation for environmental ethics. But, especially if one
considers authors other than Sankara, this need not be so. Advaita Vedanta
can be more world-affirming, finding a sense of the sacred infusing all
things, and this can serve, at least for Indians, as a basis of an
environmental ethic. The principal advisor was Ron Williams. Woodson completed
a further graduate program in creative writing and environmental
literature at the University of Montana. She is now teaching freshman
composition at the Colorado School of Mines, Golden, a course entitled "Nature
and Human Values," which combines environmental ethics with composition.
Jo Ann Hedleston completed a M. A. thesis, The Origins of the Animal Husbandry
Ethic, summer 1998. A historical account of the animal husbandry ethic as
found in British and American culture. Deals in particular with the philosophy
of Thomas Jefferson as the author of the American agrarian dream, with attention
to the influence on the Christian tradition of the utilitarian ethic of Frances
Hutcheson. The modern ideas of kindness to animals comes from the social humanitarian
movement in Britain during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The idea is
transformed from the ethics that we ought not to be cruel to animals because it
might lead in turn to cruel treatment of animals into a new ethics that claims
that we ought to be kind to animals because they are sensitive creatures with
a value of their own beyond that of human use. Comparisons with contemporary theological
defenders of animal rights. Jo Ann teaches as a part-time instructor in philosophy
at Colorado State University.
Kara Lee Lamb completed a M.A. thesis, From Philosophy to Policy: Is There
a Missing Link in Environmental Ethics?, summer 1998. Environmental ethics
is often thought to restrict permissible environmental activities by introducing
various duties, responsibilities, and prohibitions with which environmental
policy and the public must comply. Rather, environmental ethics can and ought
enlighten policy by providing a more adequate philosophical grounding in value
for legislation. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), though it requires
an Environmental Impact Statement, leaves deeper value questions untouched,
and leaves agencies with conflicting goals often at cross purposes. Environmental
ethics can clarify these value questions. Despite its many insights, however,
environmental ethics itself contains conceptual conflicts which reduce its capacity
effectively to link with environmental policy. Three proposals for making environmental
ethics more effective are based on the work of Val Plumwood, Paul Taylor, and
Holmes Rolston. Lamb has a position with the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation interpreting
environmental policy to the public and overseeing the public participation process
in evaluating that policy.
Lance Johnson completed a M. A. thesis, Philosophical Problems in the
Evaluation of Genetic Engineering, December 1998. Analysis of the ethical
models that are used to consider the moral import of genetic engineering, a
"scientific naysayer" model and an "intrinsically wrong model." There are
difficulties in assessing the potential effects of genetically engineered
organisms released into the environment. This is demonstrated with a case
study, a genetically modified canola (Brassica nigra), widely used and a
plant with numerous wild relatives. Virus resistant plants are a special
concern; genetically engineered microorganism are another. Two potential
ethical difficulties: (1) Genetically engineered organisms may be unique
enough not to model analogously to wild species. (2) Human activities
disturbing the environment may invite invasive species problems; non-
genetically engineered aggressive weedy species humans have introduced are
already a quite serious problem. Users seeking commercial benefits are
likely to underestimate the risks of harms. The thesis advisor was Holmes
Rolston. Johnson is now finishing his teaching certificate in secondary
school science at Metro State College, Denver, a post-baccalaureate
certification. He has been for several years the supervisor of Inverness
Water and Sanitation District, a subdivision of the Colorado state water
authority, in the metro Denver area.
Francoise Delehanty completed a M.A. thesis, The Metaphysics of
Wildness and its Ethical Implications, spring 1999. "Wildness" is
the universal essence of matter, shared by all natural entities
such as rocks, plants, and animals. Original, universal wildness
generates dynamic relations and drives evolution. Natural objects
are like individual leaves of a tree, but the sap is essential
wildness, manifest in variant forms of individuality. This
metaphysics of wildness generates an environmental ethics. Humans
ought to recover this wildness, both in themselves and by
establishing connections with the earth. This thesis elaborates
what Thoreau suggested aphoristically: "In wildness is the
preservation of the world." This is also an insight for which deep
ecology is striving. The thesis advisor was Donald Crosby.
Molly McDonald Yandell completed a M.A. thesis, Conflict and Consensus in Environmental Ethics
and Policy, summer 1999. Bryan
Norton's convergence hypothesis states that a consensus among
environmentalists is emerging at the most basic level of policy formation,
regardless of the diversity of value concerns. This consensus, Norton
believes, is capable of healing the fragmented environmental movement and
producing environmental policy that will better protect the natural world.
The aim of this thesis is to give evidence for the accuracy of Norton's
convergence hypothesis. I begin by contrasting John Muir and Gifford
Pinchot in order to illustrate the traditional divide that has separated
environmentalists into two camps. In the second chapter, I compare the view
points of Warwick Fox and E.O. Wilson in order to demonstrate that even with
starkly different values, it is possible for environmentalists to agree on
basic policy goals. Finally, I argue that Holmes Rolston, III and Bryan
Norton also have similar policy goals, regardless of the fact that they do
not share the same values. The advisor was Holmes Rolston.
Kathy Ann Stepien, Does an Ecological Self Need an Environmental Ethics? An
Analysis and Critique of Warwick Fox's Deep Ecology, fall 1999. Warwick Fox's
interpretation of the deep ecological position takes Self-realization as the fundamental
norm, a self essentially interconnected with all other entities, and contrasted
with a tripartite conception of the self in traditional accounts. Fox rejects
the need for environmental ethics, as a result of his expanded sense of self.
The self's behavior is internally motivated, not externally regulated. But this
is a mistake; rather a deep ecological ethics is in fact needed, offering much-needed
moral reasoning to the expanded self, making difficult decisions in the real world.
Rejected environmental ethics is reaffirmed, enabling the moral development of
the expanded self, seeking to care in a complex world. The advisor was Holmes
Rolston. Stepien, who is also a physical therapist, lived in Alaska in a cabin
outside Juneau (where she dranks the water that ran off her roof into a cistern)
and assisted in some teaching at the University of Alaska--Southeast in Juneau.
She has subsequently graduated from medical school, University of Washington (2007).
Lori Arevalo finished a M.A. degree, sitting an examination in general
and environmental philosophy, fall 1999. Her work emphasized concepts
of natural value, metaphysics of nature, the social construction of nature,
aesthetics of nature, and indigenous
peoples and their relations to the environment.
Megan Fischer completed an M.A. degree, Should We Save Nature While People
Go Hungry?: An Analysis of Nature Preservation and Poverty, fall 2000.
Sometimes, the most ethical decision is to preserve nature even if some
people have basic needs unmet. This issue is important and often faced in
nature preservation internationally. Some case studies. Priority should be
given to win-win situations, where needy people can remain on lands without
degrading them or harming wildlife. Attention needs to be given to the
deeper social problems that underlie and cause such poverty. Also one must
consider whether policies are likely to succeed or be counter-productive.
Sustainable development, though desirable, is not always an answer.
Analysis must take all values into account, including the holistic values,
and optimizing such value will require saving nature even though human needs
go unmet. This ought to prove an interim ethic, and on longer time scales
future generations of humans are likely to be better off in result. Megan
lives in Erie, Colorado, where her husband is an engineer making cellular
telephones.
Matthew Gowans finished an M. A. degree, A Latter-day Saint Environmental Ethic,
summer 2001. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints supports a strong
environmental ethic. This is developed here (1) in teaching regarding the intrinsic
value of the "soul," a concept applied not only to humans but to animals, plants,
and all living beings (recalling both Biblical and Mormon texts and Aristotle's
concept of soul). All creation can express a kind of joy in life. (2) Teachings
regarding stewardship show that God expects humans to be stewards of the Earth,
a concept defended against criticisms. The principle of sacrifice emphasizes human
interdependency and selfless sacrifice. (3) Latter-day saints work for a promised
"Zion," a vision of harmony and flourishing on Earth. Philip Cafaro was the principal
advisor. Gowans spent summer 2002 censusing amphibians and reptiles for the Utah
Division of Wildlife and is now teaching philosophy at Utah Valley State College.
Chris Hains finished an M.A. thesis, Development and Conservation Issues in
Africa, summer 2001. The thesis evaluates ways in which development and
nature conservation, both valuable goals, can be achieved in Africa.
Objections to prevailing forms of development, that they do not succeed for
pragmatic reasons and that Western ideas about development and conservation
are misplaced impositions on Africa. Although improving the lives of humans
and conserving nature can be difficult, there is adequate evidence that
these goals are attainable. Nor is it always necessary to favor human
centered development over the conservation of nature. Some conservation
projects, even if they do not focus on improving the welfare of humans, can
still be justified. Hains, who spent two years in the Peace Corps in
Lesotho (South Africa), is now in a Ph.D. program in African history,
University of Minnesota. Holmes Rolston was the principal advisor.
Jo Thiel completed an M.A. thesis, Land Communities, Land Ethics, and Private
Land, fall 2001. Three metaphysical views of land are analyzed: the market
view, the mechanistic view, and the land community view. The land community view
is most adequate and leads to a land ethic, with the goal of land health, distinguished
from the pristine integrity of wild nature. Land health is the responsibility
of private landowners as well as appropriate public policy. Land owners must envision
themselves as members of three types of community in order correctly to pursue
a land ethic: the ecosystemic community, the ethical community, and the social
community. Holmes Rolston was the principal advisor. Now Jo (Thiel) Arney, she
is finishing a Ph.D. in the Graduate School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado
Denver and has a position as Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science
and Public Administration, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse.
Ketil Rogn completed an M.A. thesis, From Earth Ethics to Political Ecology:
Theory and Practice in Environmental Philosophy, spring 2002. In both environmental
ethics and discourse ethics theory precedes and governs practice. Environmental
ethics operates from theory that creates substantive recommendations for practice.
The discourse ethicist argues that such recommendations can only be created in
communication among those involved, but this communication is subject to certain
formal demands. This thesis proposes an alternative model in which political and
ethical organization precedes and gives rise to political and ethical principles.
Adapting ideas from Spinoza about the concrete reality of the body, there arise
assemblages of organizations concerned about environmental issues, engaged in
political advocacy and advocating an ethic. We generate and revise principles
in result and accordingly. Rogn is from Norway and is now in a Ph.D. program at
the University of Olso researching indigenous knowledge and the conservation of
nature.
Elizabeth Fenton finished an M.A. thesis, Wild Animal Welfare and Common
Sense Ethics, spring 2002. Environmental ethics includes an ethics of
respect for wild animals. There are two dimensions here, one is respect for
the integrity of animal life, which includes caring for animals welfare; the
other is respect for wildness. In much environmental ethics, for example in
that of Holmes Rolston, valuing the wildness takes precedence over concern
for animal suffering. This is similarly true when exotic (feral) animals
are removed by killing in order to protect endangered species of plants, or
ecosystems, also argued by William Throop.
But a common sense ethic moves us to care about animal
suffering; and such an ethic is, on reflection, well founded. The desire to extend
humane treatment to wild animals expresses human moral compassion, and recognizes
the fact that the capacity to suffer is a morally relevant characteristic shared
by all sentient beings, regardless of whether they are wild. On occasions when
we do encounter wild animals in distress, the moral and compassionate action is
to reduce their suffering, not to let wild nature take its course. Fenton, from
New Zealand, served as policy analyst for ethical issues with the Strategic Analysis
Team, Senior Policy Directorate, Ministry of Health, New Zealand. She later took
a Ph.D. at the University of Virginia, defending a thesis on human rights in 2008.
She has accepted a post doc at Harvard University in philosophy.
Filip Henryk Panusz completed an M.A. thesis, Bodily Work and Value: Merleau-Ponty,
Marx and Environmental Ethics, spring 2002. A quasi-materialist approach
to value theory. Bodily work is one of the means through which values arise,
as with laboring on the land. Values are not created out of pure mind. They
are not discovered through pure reason, independently of the material manifold
that surrounds us. It is impossible to speak of value without phenomenological
inquiry into the subject's immediate experience of the world.
Value is first approached here through Merleau-Ponty's
phenomenology of the lived body and the Life-world. Continuing, values are not
intellectual beliefs that one "has." A value exists when it is "lived." Value
is next approached through Karl Marx's critique of idealism and his materialist
emphasis upon praxis, as expressed in the labor theory of value.
Among the consequences for environmental ethics
are that (a) environmental education must educate entire embodied beings, that
(b) isolation from the sensuous environment may have deleterious ethical consequences,
and (c) that some kinds of physical work on the land are particularly fruitful
and salubrious in invoking a moral sense within the laborer. Panuz is originally
from Poland, now resident in the United States.
Jennifer A. Corwin completed an M.A. thesis, An Evaluation of Kant's Claims
Regarding the Non-Rational Nature of Non-Human Animals, fall 2002. It is
generally accept that Kant's ethical theories cannot serve as a basis for a
non-anthropocentric environmental ethic because Kant asserts that non-human
animals are not owed direct duties from human beings because non-human animals
are not rational creatures. But Kant's conception of rational does not permit
him to make such a "knowledge claim." At most Kant can only theorize
or postulate the non-rationality of animals as a theoretical possibility and
not a cognitive certainty. Lacking such knowledge, we can and ought to expand
Kant's ethical theories to include direct duties toward non-humans, serving
as a basis for a non-anthropocentric environmental ethic. The thesis advisor
was Jane Kneller. Jennifer Corwin is Environmental Protection Specialist, Federal
Highway Administration, Denver, CO.
Karen Gordon completed an M.A. thesis, The Metaphysical Link between Freedom
and Morality: A Bergsonian Perspective, 2003. Henri Bergson develops a metaphysical
perspective in which time and space, mind and matter, recollections and perceptions,
being and becoming are manifestations of durée--a temporal and
dynamic process. Bergson will not stop a dynamically unfolding reality in order
to analyze it. This offers a continuous flow in morality as well, a morality
that, rather than being fixed by laws, rules, and principles, proceeds by actively
seeking out unique solutions to particular problems. Such a morality offers
promise for environmental ethics. The thesis advisor was Donald Crosby.
David R. Wiles completed an M.A. thesis, Neo-Aristotelian Environmental
Virtue Ethics, spring 2003. Neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics has recently
emerged as an important ethical alternative, challenging Kantian and utilitarianism
for theoretical dominance. This thesis argues that virtue ethics is indeed the
best ethical theory available, both generally, and as a grounding framework
for environmental ethics. An environmental virtue ethics uniquely recognizes
the intricate connections between a healthy environment and human flourishing.
It also recognizes the diverse values that nature affords in our quest for eudaimonia,
and provides good reason for protecting and preserving these values. Specifically,
environmental virtue ethics recognizes the importance of living materially simple
lives in our quest for the good life, and stresses the fact that material simplicity
is needed to ameliorate the environmental crisis caused by over-consumption.
Living close to nature, endorsed by an environmental virtue ethic, facilitates
a materially simple lifestyle, which facilitates eudaimonia. Solitary
time spent in nature gives us the "mind-time" needed for wisdom. With
wisdom, we come to see how truly important nature is for living well. The advisor
was Philip Cafaro. Wiles is now a Ph.D. student in the program in religion and
nature, University of Florida.
Rod D. Adams completed a M.A. thesis, Liberal Education the Environment:
An Analysis of David Orr's Green Proposal for Higher Education, Colorado
State University, Fall 2003. Liberal education, Orr argues, has been equipping
students with industrial minds and proposes educating for ecologically literate
minds instead. I examine his proposal in the light of the history of liberal
education, which has two competing traditions, the rhetorical and the philosophical.
Universities tend to emphasize one or the other at various times; a better education
would enable students to make their own choices here. Orr requires ideals from
both traditions, as well as elements from ancient, modern, and postmodern philosophy.
The advisor was Philip Cafaro.
Jane F. Compson completed a M.A. thesis, Whose Pain, Which Morality? A Defense
of the Moral Considerability of Animals Using a Coherence Model of Ethical Justification.
Colorado State University, 2004. In a search for a sound theoretical justification
for the equal consideration of animals, moral realism and foundationalism are
rejected as implausible. First general accounts to raise the moral status of
animals (such as those of Peter Singer and Tom Regan) are beset by related difficulties.
The coherence approach, demonstrated by second generation ethicists (such as
Bernard Rollin and David DeGrazia) is defended. The epistemological differences
between the realist and the coherence approach are exemplified with a discussion
on value; the coherence approach is more plausible, though it does have to be
defended against relativism. The coherence approach is applied to the counter-intuitive
arguments of Peter Carruthers, showing that the coherence approach does not
lead to a relativist free-for-all, but provides firm evaluative criteria for
making moral judgments without having to postulate objective, mind-independent
truths. The advisor was Bernard Rollin. Compson is in philosophy at the University
of Central Florida, Orlando.
Padraig Gallagher completed an M.A. thesis, Flannagan's Naturalized Ethics:
Epistemology, Ecology, and the Limits of Pragmatism, Colorado State University,
spring 2005. Critique of Owen Flannagan's work, especially his "Ethics
Naturalized as Human Ecology" (1995) and his "pragmatic naturalism."
Flannagan claims a parallel between biological ecology and human ecology through
the concept of "flourishing," which has to be localized, flourishing
in particular environments. Flannagan does recognize some transcultural human
universals, but these nevertheless take their specifics in local cultural contexts.
Gallagher argues that Flannagan is "methodologically infirm," because
of the lack of criteria with which to judge better and worse in these locally
flourishing groups, an evaluation needed for humans with their options in life
choices, but not needed in biological ecology, where ethical choices do not
apply. The advisor was James Maffie.
Christopher Jon Thomas completed an M.A. thesis, A Philosophical Justification
for the Legal Rights of Animals, Colorado State University, spring 2005.
Previous attitudes and reasoning about human duties to domestic animals, which
are largely based on duties to owners of the animals, are inadequate. This is
partly because of our increased capacities to exploit animals and partly because
of increasing ethical sensitivities. Domestic animals need now to be given rights,
and such rights ought to be increasingly adopted into law. An examination of
theory and practice in law and its application to extending legal rights to
animals. The advisor was Bernard Rollin, co-advisor Holmes Rolston.
Alyson Elizabeth Huff completed an M. A. thesis, An Ethical Defense of Vegetarianism,
2005. The vegetarian lifestyle characterized in three different ways: a pseudo
vegetarian, a practical vegetarian, and an ethically motivated vegetarian, with
particularly analysis of the ethically motivated vegetarian. Major philosophical
theories that support, and reject, vegetarianism are examined for their credibility
and relevance. Real life implications of vegetarian actions, intentions of the
actors, potential consequences. Actual social sentiment is appraised and compared
to the ethically motivated vegetarians' ultimate goals. A possible solution
to reducing animal suffering, as our moral obligation, is proposed. The advisor
was Bernard Rollin.
Jacob R. Neely finished an M.A., Plan B, 2005, with a professional paper on
animals and the law, inquiring about possibilities for incorporating animal
rights into law, using the concept of guardianship as an intermediate stage.
Jake is now a Ph.D. student at Central European University, Budapest, Hungary.
The advisor was Bernard Rollin.
Brian R. Depew finished an M.A. thesis, There Is a Moral Obligation to Save
the Family Farm, summer 2005. Many persons have an attraction
to family farms but without a clear moral argument for them, while family farms
flounder. The two live options for agriculture in the United States are a family
farm system or an industrial agribusiness system, and they differently affect
individual autonomy, environmental stewardship, and community well-being, with
the family farm system proving superior. This has significant implications for
farm and rural policy. Depew is now pursuing a Ph.D. in rural sociology, also
with further work in philosophy, at Michigan State University, East Lansing.
The advisor was Michael Losonsky.
Kelsi Nagy finished an M.A. thesis, Values in Action: A Philosophic Analysis
of Moral Motivation in Two Classics of Environmental Literature, fall,
2005. Neither Kant's ethics nor utilitarianism gives a convincing account of
how people are motivated to act as moral agents. Environmental literature is
often a more successful way to motivate people to accept the environment as
an object of moral concern. This thesis analyzes Thoreau's Walden and Leopold's
A Sand County Almanac, using Harry G. Frankfurt's theory that a free action
requires that a person engage in reflection, choose which value she wants, then
is effectively motivated by the freely chosen value. Thoreau and Leopold use
literature to engage the reader into reflection on values, specifically those
economic and scientific values that have an effect upon our actions toward the
environment. Narrative discourse can lead people to reflect on values that effectively
motivates action in a way that, while different than philosophic argumentation,
may be an equally important discourse for moral motivation. The chair of her
committee was Holmes Rolston.
Alicia Swaine Blaney finished an M.A. thesis, Environmental Conservation
at Multiple Landscape Scales: An Analysis of the Ethical Past, Present, and
Future, summer 2006. Environmental ethics is on the forefront of contemporary
ethical thought, but its language is problematic, with different parties meaning
different things by similar words, often giving rise to conflict and confusion,
even by those who share values in common. We do not have available a universal
environmental ethic, but there are convictions broadly shared. Ethics is functional
at different levels and goes into a webwork of belief. Further issues arise
with institutional divisions of the landscape into private and public, rural
lands, park lands, national forest lands, wilderness, often producing fragmentation
rather than a comprehensive ethic. If this philosophical confusion is to be
overcome, and if land is to be appropriately respected, then there must be a
new ethic, one that is "loosely naturalized." Such an ethic will begin
with the broad assumption that nature exists and has intrinsic value but that
an inclusive ethic will move into the cultural realm where subjective interactions
at multiple levels are better able to discover and appropriately respect the
objective realities in the natural world. The chair of her committee was Holmes
Rolston, III. Blaney is now teaching English at Western State Collge,
Gunnison, Colorado, where her husband is on the faculty in political science,
specializing in environmental policy.
David Ehrensberger finished an M.A. degree, non-thesis, in summer 2006, featuring
a comprehensive examination in environmental ethics. David is now full-time
electronic resources librarian and part-time philosophy instructor at Luzerne
County Community College in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania near Scranton.
David S. Chermak completed an M. A. thesis, Theoretical Environmental Philosophy
Is Not Environmental Activism, Colorado State University, Summer 2007. J.
Baird Callicott claims that theoretical environmental philosophy is environmental
activism, with a strong sense of how by offering good reasons justifying ethical
beliefs, ethicists may affect the actions of individuals. Callicott's ethic
is grounded in an evolutionary-ecological worldview, which understands humans
as a part of the greater biotic community, which leads to the realization that
we ought intrinsically to value nature, expanding our moral sentiments. Callicott
believes that his environmental ethic demonstrates why individuals ought to
value the natural world, and he asserts that his ethic is genuinely normative.
Callicott's
claim to normativity fails, however, as he is unable to bridge the is/ought
gap. There does not seem to be a rationally compelling argument from the evolutionary-ecological
worldview to an environmental ethic. Though Callicott's ethic lacks normative
force, it remains important in a descriptive sense. Humans naturally grant broaden
their identification to include family, friends, and community. Viewing humans
as a part of a large biotic community, further broadens their identification
to include the natural world, as is promoted by deep ecologists. Such an outlook
has been a powerful source of motivation for committed environmental activists,
although it is not rationally compelling. Bernard Rollin and Holmes
Rolston were advisors.
Gambrel, Joshua Colt completed an M. A. thesis, The Virtue of Simplicity,
Colorado State University, Spring 2008. Modern American life
has become increasingly complex. A paradigm shift is needed and this transformation
can be accomplished by cultivating the virtue of simplicity, with a deeper questioning
and discovering of more lasting needs and interests. A voluntary simplification
of life questions our over-consumptive lifestyles, especially the impact on
the ecosphere. Simplifing lifestyles helps produce empowerment, equity, and
justice. The virtue of simplicity addresses responsibilities to ourselves, our
families, our place, and to the environment and animals; it means giving to
ourselves a higher quality of life. The principal advisor was Philip Cafaro.
Philosophy is not the only place to do environmental issues at CSU, often
for many people not the best place. There are various other fields to
consider: political science or law, for example. Natural resource
economics. Geography. There are numerous programs in environmental
studies, sometimes more, sometimes less science-oriented.
Click here for a representative list of environmental courses at CSU:
Environmental Courses at Colorado State University
Click here for information from the CSU Catalog on environmental
emphases at CSU:
Environmental Emphases at Colorado State
University
Other departments at CSU in which to do environmental conservation/policy.
Department of Political Science. Has both M. S. and Ph.D. in political
science and many faculty there are interested in environmental policy.
Inquire of Professor Dimitris Stevis or James P. Lester.
Department of Fishery and Wildlife Biology. Has both M. S. and Ph.D. in
wildlife biology (and/or fishery biology) and many of graduate students
there have concentrated in conservation biology. Inquire of Professor
Richard L. Knight or Professor Dale Hein.
Department of Forest Sciences. Has both M. S. and Ph.D. in various
dimensions of forestry, including forest conservation and policy. Inquire
of Professor Donald L. Crews or Professor Richard D. Laven.
Department of Range Science. Has both M. S. and Ph.D. in range and soil
conservation. Inquire of Professor Robert G. Woodmansee.
Department of Recreation Resources and Landscape Architecture. Has both M.
S. and Ph.D. in environmental interpretation, recreation resources,
conservation biology, wilderness management and policy, tourism, and
frequent graduate students in these areas. Inquire of Professor Glenn E.
Haas or Professor George Wallace.
Department of Biology. Has both M.S. and Ph.D programs and graduate
students often have biological conservation as an aspect of their studies.
Inquire of Professor Bruce A. Wunder (biology, zoology), or Professor David
Steingraeber (botany).
Department of Speech Communication. Several theses have been done in
environmental communication and rhetoric. For example:
--Catherine S. Goerz, The Rhetoric of Earth First!: An Organic Systems
Analysis. M.A. thesis, Fall 1996. Earth First!'s rhetoric is examined with
an organic systems analysis. This approach to social movements conceives
the organization to be a collectivity that must interact and adapt with the
external environment in order to evolve. By analyzing the internal
relationships and resources, the communication channels, and rhetorical
environment surrounding the movement, the revolutionary nature of Earth
First! is revealed. The thesis advisor was James R. Irvine.
--Courtney Peterson, A Comparison of the Environmental Rhetoric of Dave
Foreman, Earth First!, and Lois Marie Gibbs, Love Canal. M.A. thesis,
Spring 1998. A study in what makes rhetorical strategies work for
environmental activists. Both figures are effective activists; their
differences are found in philosophy and gender. The thesis advisor was
Professor Cindy L. Griffin.
--Sean Crotty, Single Track Mind: Cycling and the Evolution of the
American Nature Ideal. M.A. thesis in environmental history,
spring 1999. "Americans have
constructed a natural idea in which machines are no longer an
intruder in the garden, but rather indispensable tools for
uncovering and enjoying nature's wonders." This includes
automobiles, freeze-dried foods, Gore-tex jackets, cross-country
skis, and mountain bikes. Bicycling can be a means of getting
people into more experience of nature. "If nature is (socially)
constructed, if it is indeed a blank screen awaiting the projection
of human values, and if one of those values is technology, then
mountain biking has the eco-friendly image that it does because it
represents the culmination of an American idea of nature,
constructed throughout this century" (p. 59).
Why not then bikes in designated wilderness? Earlier
regulations prohibited only "contrivances powered by a non-living
power source," but today "mechanized transport" is prohibited (p.
85). But clothing, pocket knives, axes, stoves, metal frame
backpacks are o.k. Crotty's conclusion is that the rule is
justified only by degree of adverse impact, were large numbers of
bikers to ride the wilderness trails. Crotty was formerly a
professional mountain bike racer.