Graduate Studies in Environmental Philosophy in Colorado
University of Colorado at Denver, Graduate School of Public
Affairs, has a Program in Environmental Affairs, that grants both
a master's and a Ph.D. degree. This is a serious program, but
somewhat modest in size. Contact Lloyd Burton, Director, Program
in Environmental Affairs, University of Colorado at Denver,
Graduate School of Public Affairs, 1445 Market Street, Suite 350,
Denver, CO 80202. Phone 303/820-5600.
Steven J. Bissell completed a Ph.D. thesis in the above program,
spring 1993, Ethical Issues in State Wildlife Policy: A
Qualitative Analysis. Bissell documented in a series of focus
group interviews in five states that the state wildlife commissions
and agencies are often considerably out of touch with the values
that are held both by contemporary hunter and nonhunter citizens,
catering to a rather narrow interest group of traditional hunters.
His analysis concludes that if both citizens and agency personnel
were to take Aldo Leopold's land ethic more seriously, much of this
value gap would be alleviated. Bissell is chief of environmental
interpretation for the Colorado Division of Wildlife. Address:
Colorado Division of Wildlife, 6060 Broadway, Denver, CO 80216.
Phone 303/291-7267.
University of Colorado, Boulder. Paul Veatch Moriarty completed a Ph.D.
thesis: Animal Cognition and Self-Awareness (Cognitive Ethology), 1997, in
the Department of Philosophy. Most cognitive psychologists see no reason to
suppose that animals are aware of their own thoughts; many philosophers view
self-awareness as being fundamental to our humanity, making self-awareness a
dividing line between humans and (other) animals. But there is empirical
evidence that some animals are self-aware, and this has profound
implications for moral duties toward animals. Self-awareness comes in
degrees, and varies along three independent axes: complexity of self-
concept, properties attributed to the self, and degree of awareness.
Mirror-self-recognition experiments provide only a limited evidence that
does not bear moral weight. Animal communication provides evidence that
some animals are aware of their own mental states. One result of the study
is to see how the human mind fits into the natural world. The thesis
advisor was Dale Jamieson. Moriarty is now teaching philosophy at Longwood
College, Farmville, Virginia.
University of Colorado, Boulder. Derek Shaw completed a Ph.D. thesis:
Owning the Natural World, in philosophy, 1996. Philosophical reflections on
property explain how our property institutions enable us to achieve valued
goals, such as maximizing satisfied preferences. Many philosophers assume
that the normative conclusions of property theory are universally valid.
This is mistaken. Liberal philosophical justifications of private property
are based on values and intuitions that are created within the context of
private property-based societies. Our relations to the natural world,
which are often assumed to be only mediated by property, are in fact
determined and limited by the "nature" of our property regime. The
ownership conventions (and land rights) of many native peoples have been
overlooked and/or destroyed. Property theory can never be used to justify
the imposition of Western-style ownership conventions onto native societies.
Broader perspectives on property result from investigating the phenomenology
and genealogy of property. The advisor was James Nickel.
University of Colorado, Boulder. Mark J. Woods completed a Ph.D. thesis,
Rethinking Wilderness, fall 1996. He examines the more important criticisms
of wilderness coming from environmental philosophy, ecology, and environmental
history, also legal-political practices and paradoxes of wilderness preservation.
He examines the metaphysical and scientific underpinnings and moral values of
wilderness, and finds arguments advanced against it are all to be wanting. Dale
Jamieson was the principal advisor; Holmes Rolston (Colorado State University)
also served on the committee. Mark now teaches philosophy at the University of
San Diego, California.
University of Colorado, Boulder. Robert M. Figueroa completed a Ph.D. thesis, Debating the Paradigms of Justice: The Bivalence
of Environmental Justice, 1999. Environmental justice typically
addresses social justice related to human activities that affect
both human and natural environments. Environmental justice is
typically described like civil rights concerns with environmental
divisions. Justice theory is currently divided between
distributive theories and participatory-democratic theories, the
one finding justice in a more equitable distribution of resources,
the other in more participation in democratic decision-making.
Environmental justice fits neither paradigm well; it is a
distinctive form of justice that requires a synthesis of
distributive justice and participatory justice. Nancy Fraser's
dialectical approach to resolving the problematic dichotomy is
useful in such synthesis. Applied to environmental justice, a non-
reductive bi-valent theory is superior to any prevailing accounts.
There are also implications in environmental philosophy, with
relevant concerns for non-human animals and ecosystems. The advisor
was Claudia Mills. Figueroa taught at Webster University,
St. Louis, MO, and is currently teaching philosophy at Colgate
University.