<H3 align="center">RELIGION,
ETHICS, AND THE ENVIRONMENT</H3>
<H3 align="center"><B>(Natural
Resources 407)</B></H3>
Fall
Semester 2003 (4 credit hours)<BR></BR>
Tues. &
Thurs. 10:10 11:00 (with discussion
to be arranged) <BR></BR>
Caldwell
100<BR></BR>
<BR></BR>
Richard Baer,
Professor<BR></BR>
Greg Hitzhusen,
Teaching Assistant<BR></BR>
Rob Young, Teaching Assistant
<BR></BR>
<BR></BR>
<P> </P>
<P align="center"><B>A.
SYNOPSIS OF COURSE</B></P>
<P> Although
offered in the Department of Natural Resources as part of a Program
in Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, this course is rooted in
the humanities, especially philosophy, ethics, and religion. No
formal education in these disciplines is presupposed, although
students with such background will be able to work on assigned papers
at a more advanced level.</P>
<P> Natural
Resources 407 is reasonably theoretical in nature. In fourteen weeks
of classes, we shall not offer fourteen solutions to fourteen
environmental problems. Thus, in the short term the course is not
necessarily altogether "useful." Instead, we shall look at
who we are in relation to nature: why we are so compulsive in our
patterns of consumption and in our need to control nature and each
other; why we are so addicted to recognition, achievement, and
success; why we tend to see nature in such extreme terms--either as
simply a resource to be exploited as efficiently as possible for
human benefit or else as sacrosanct, divine, and degraded through
human contact. The course presupposes that at the deepest level the
environmental and agricultural problems we currently face are crises
of culture and will not be solved simply through technical fixes,
even though our best science and technology will be required to
maintain a healthy environment. Paradoxically, former students tell
me that over the long run NR 407 has turned out to be one of the most
practical and useful courses they have taken at Cornell!</P>
<P> After
briefly reflecting on our need to control the world about us, we will
explore the meaning of terms like <I>nature</I>, <I>wilderness</I>,
and <I>garden</I>. We will examine the view that "nature knows
best" and the antipathy that many environmentalists have towards
human intervention in nature.
</P>
<P> We
shall reflect on what it means to say that we <I>know</I>
something--in science, in religion, in philosophy, and in ethics.
What is knowledge? What is a fact? What is a value? What is
objectivity, and how important is it? What are some of the
similarities and differences between knowledge in science and
knowledge in ethics, philosophy, or religion? We shall also explore
the questions of whether there are significant differences in how
women and men typically approach moral issues.</P>
<P> </P>
<P> After
fall break we will raise questions about the importance of
truthtelling in relation to forming sound environmental policy. We
shall examine how the media function in our democratic society and
ask whether they are fulfilling their responsibility to keep the
public accurately informed of what is happening environmentally. We
will then focus on how the way we see and understand the world
affects our particular ethical judgments, and we shall look at some
of the differences between an ethics of virtue or character and
ethics as moral rules and principles. After that we will take two
weeks to look at how Christianity (and to a lesser extent Judaism)
might shed light on current environmental problems. Our focus will
be on the Biblical concepts of sin and salvation as reflected in
Deuteronomy, Galatians, and in the writings of Reinhold Niebuhr.
</P>
<P> The
last section of the course will examine tensions between liberal
political theory and attempts to resolve various environmental
problems. Week 13 will focus on conflicts between an approach to
animal rights/welfare issues that focuses on the well-being of
individual animals and one that is concerned with the well-being of
entire species and ecosystems. Finally, we shall look at the role of
the state in forming environmental policy and shall ask whether
classical liberalism (liberalism in the sense that both Republicans
and Democrats are liberals) provides an adequate framework for
solving such difficult environmental problems as wilderness
preservation, responsibility to future generations, and our treatment
of animals, issues which have a great deal to do with particular
visions of the good life and the good society. And if it does not,
what alternatives are available to us?</P>
<P> Natural
Resources 407 pays close attention to secular ethical and
philosophical analysis, but it also examines how religious
traditions, notably Christianity and Judaism, shed light on current
environmental problems. As a part of our basic theoretical analysis,
we shall mention particular environmental problems, but we shall only
occasionally discuss detailed solutions to these problems. For
instance, when we reflect on questions of distributive justice and
responsibility to future generations, we shall likely refer to land
use, conservation, population growth, disposal of toxic wastes,
energy use, consumption of nonrenewable resources, and global
warming, but not in a highly detailed manner.</P>
<P><BR></BR>
</P>
<P align="center"><B>B.
ASSIGNED BOOKS AND ARTICLES</B></P>
<P> <B>1.
<U>You are expected to purchase the following books and course
packets</U></B></P>
<P> A.
BOOKS</P>
<P>
(1) Stanley Hauerwas, <U>A Community of Character:
Toward a Constructive Christian Social Ethic</U>, Notre Dame,
Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1981.</P>
<P>
(2) Michael Pollan, <U>Second Nature: A Gardener's
Education</U>, New York: Dell Publishing, 1991.</P>
<P>
(3) Joseph Sax, <U>Mountains Without
Handrails</U>, Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1980.</P>
<P> B.
COURSE PACKETS</P>
<P>
(1) Stephen Budiansky, <U>Nature's Keepers: The New
Science of Nature Management</U>, New York: The Free Press, 1995.
Available in Campus Store as Course Packet 1.
</P>
<P>
(2) Selected journal articles, etc. Available in Campus Store as
Course Packet 2.</P>
<P>
<B>2. <U>You are required to bring appropriate books
and/or article reprints to each weekly discussion section</U>. </B>
</P>
<P>
NOTE: A number of copies of Reinhold Niebuhr's <U>The
Nature and Destiny of Man</U>, volumes I and II, have also been
ordered. This book is a classic, a solid addition to your permanent
library, and I encourage you to buy a copy if you can afford it.</P>
<P><BR></BR>
</P>
<P align="center"><B>C.
EXAMS, PAPERS, GRADES</B></P>
<P><B>1. <U>Exams
will consist of:</U></B></P>
<P>
a. An in-class midterm exam to be held on Tuesday,
October 21. It will consist of one short essay (25 minutes) and
six mini-essays (4 minutes each) and will cover the material through
week eight. We will schedule two or three optional review sessions
before the exam.</P>
<P>
b. A final exam comprised of essay and mini-essay
questions to be given during the regular exam period.</P>
<P><B>2. <U>Term
Papers</U></B></P>
<P> Each
of you will be expected to write a 10 12 page term paper (250
words per page average) that will be due at the <U>beginning</U> of
class on Tuesday, December 2. You are required to check out your
topic with your Teaching Assistant or with Prof. Baer <U>before</U>
you start your paper, and an outline of your paper is due on or
before the beginning of class, Tuesday, November 11. Your outline
will permit us to give you some feedback before you commit major time
to your paper.<U> There will be grade penalties for late papers as
follows</U>:</P>
<BR></BR>
<TABLE border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TH valign="top">
Paper handed in by 2 p.m. on</TH>
<TH valign="top">Penalty will be</TH>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD valign="top">
Friday, December 5</TD>
<TD valign="top">1/3 of a grade (A to A-)</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD valign="top">
Monday, December 8</TD>
<TD valign="top">2/3 of a
grade (A to B+)</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD valign="top">
Thursday, Dec. 11</TD>
<TD valign="top">1 full grade (A to
B)</TD>
</TR>
</TBODY>
</TABLE>
<BR></BR>
<P>NOTE:
No papers will be accepted after 2 p.m. on Thursday, December 11,
unless you have made a special arrangement with your professor or TA
<U>at least a week before</U> the December 2 due date. Extensions
will be granted only in exceptional circumstances beyond your
control.</P>
<P><B>3.
<U>Weekly Reading Synopses</U></B>: In preparation for discussion
sections you will be required each week to respond to a question or
write a short synopsis of one or more of the assigned readings
(<U>length</U>: <U>one page, single spaced, typed</U>). These will
be due each week in discussion sections. We shall hand out these
synopsis assignments along with questions designed to help you better
understand required readings on each Thursday of the week before they
are due. You will be required to hand in at least 11 of the 13
assignments over the course of the semester, and your papers will be
graded. If you want to hand in all 13 of the synopses, we will
credit you with your 11 highest grades.</P>
<P><B>4.
<U>Semester Grades</U></B> for this course will be calculated as
follows:</P>
<P> Mid-term
exam* 25%</P>
<P> Term
paper 25%</P>
<P> Final
exam 25%</P>
<P> Participation
in discussion sections, including grades on synopses 25%</P>
<P> **<U>Note
1</U>: Because many of you have not done a great deal of work in the
humanities, we have decided to count your midterm grade only if it
helps you; if it hurts your semester average we will not count it.
You are required to take the midterm, however, and you are well
advised to put as much effort into it as possible--both to take grade
pressure off yourself at the end of the semester and to make it
possible for us to give you valuable feedback on what you have
written for the midterm. If the midterm reflects minimal effort on
your part, our feedback will also be minimal.</P>
<P> </P>
<P> **<U>Note
2</U>: DISCUSSION SECTIONS ARE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE COURSE, AND
REGULAR ATTENDANCE IS REQUIRED. EVEN THOUGH SECTIONS (INCLUDING
SYNOPSIS PAPERS) CONSTITUTE ONLY 25% OF THE COURSE GRADE, STILL YOU
CANNOT PASS THE COURSE AT ALL IF YOU DO NOT ATTEND AT LEAST HALF THE
SECTIONS, AND YOUR GRADE WILL BE ADVERSELY AFFECTED IF YOU MISS EVEN
TWO OR THREE SECTIONS, EXCEPT IN CASES WHERE YOU HAVE BEEN EXCUSED
FOR JOB INTERVIEWS, ETC.****</P>
<P> **<U>Note
3</U>: The course may be taken S/U.<BR></BR>
<BR></BR>
</P>
<P align="center"><B>D.
SCHEDULE OF LECTURES AND READING ASSIGNMENTS</B></P>
<P>
** Required readings
</P>
<P>
* Suggested further readings</P>
<P>
(no asterisk) Additional bibliography</P>
<P>NOTE:
Some lectures will attempt to clarify assigned readings and present
background material for them. Others will deal with separate
themes. In discussion sections you will have the opportunity
to discuss and raise questions about both readings and lectures. For
those of you who have not read a great deal in religion, ethics, and
philosophy, some of the reading assignments may be a bit difficult,
and you may need to go through them more than once. The readings
assignments are considerably longer during the first part of the
semester than at the end of the semester. We have found that this
works well for most students, for among other things, it gives you
more time late in the semester to work on your term paper and to
prepare for the final exam.</P>
<P><BR></BR>
</P>
<P align="center"><U><B>I.
INTRODUCTION</B></U></P>
<P><B>WEEK
ONE (August 28-29): Introduction</B></P>
<P>
**Richard A. Baer, Jr., "Our Need to Control:
Implications for Environmental Education," <U> The American
Biology Teacher</U>, November 1976, pp. 473-76, 490. </P>
<P>
**Thomas Merton, "The Woodcarver" and "The
Useless Tree," in <U>The Way of Chuang Tzu</U>, 1965,
pp. 110 111, 35 36.
</P>
<P>
*Thomas Merton, "Rain and the Rhinoceros," in <U>Raids on
the Unspeakable</U>, 1960, pp. 9 23.</P>
<P><BR></BR>
</P>
<P align="center"><U><B>II.
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND PROBLEMS</B></U></P>
<P><B>WEEK
TWO (September 1-5): Why Have National Parks</B>?</P>
<P>
**Joseph L. Sax, <U>Mountains Without Handrails:
Reflections on the National Parks</U>, 1980, pp. 1-113.</P>
<P>
*John Passmore, <U>Man's Responsibility for Nature</U>, 1973.</P>
<P>
Ian Barbour, <U>Technology, Environment, and Human Values</U>, 1980,
pp. 1-106.
</P>
<P>
Roderick Nash, <U>Wilderness and the American Mind</U>,
New Haven: Yale University Press, 3rd ed., 1982.
</P>
<P>
Leo Marx, <U>The Machine in the Garden: Technology and
the Pastoral Ideal in America</U>, New York: Oxford University Press,
1964.</P>
<P><BR></BR>
</P>
<P><B>WEEK
THREE (September 8-12): The Garden: What Does It Tell Us about the
Meaning of Nature?</B>
</P>
<P>
**Michael Pollan, <U>Second Nature: A Gardener's
Education</U>, New York, NY: Dell Publishing, 1991, chapters 1-4,
6, 9, and 10. If you have the time, I urge you to read the entire
book. Chapter 5 is delightful, one of my favorite chapters, but I am
not assigning it, since it is not altogether relevant to the course.
Some of you may also be intrigued by chapter 11.</P>
<P>
*Gordon D. Kaufman, "A Problem for
Theology: the Concept of Nature," <U>Harvard Theological
Review</U>, 65 (1972), pp. 337 366. This is a very
difficult but valuable article on the various meanings of the term
"nature" and on the relationship of human beings to nature.</P>
<P>
Bill Devall, "The Deep Ecology Movement,"
<U>Natural Resources Journal</U>, Vol. 20 (April,1980), pp. 299-322.</P>
<P>
Bill Devall and George Sessions, <U>Deep Ecology</U>, 1985.</P>
<P><BR></BR>
</P>
<P>
<B>WEEK FOUR (September 15-19)</B>: <B>The "Nature
Knows Best" Myth: Should Humans Keep Hands off Nature?</B></P>
<P>
**Stephen Budiansky, <U>Nature's Keepers: The New
Science of Nature Management</U>, New York: The Free Press, 1995,
pp. 1-155, 245-250. I would also urge you to skim (or, if you have
time, read) pages 159-242.</P>
<P>
Alston Chase, <U>Playing God in Yellowstone: the
Destruction of America's First National Park</U>, New York:
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986.</P>
<P>
Martin W. Lewis, <U>Green Delusions</U>, Durham: Duke University
Press, 1992.
</P>
<P>
Rik Scarce, <U>Eco-Warriors: Understanding the Radical
Environmental Movement</U>, Chicago: The Noble Press, Inc., 1990.</P>
<P>
Christopher Manes, <U>Green: Radical Environmentalism
and the Unmaking of Civilization</U>, Boston: Little, Brown, and
Company, 1990.</P>
<P>
Arne Naess, <U>Ecology, Community and Lifestyle:
Outline of an Ecosophy</U>, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1989.</P>
<P><BR></BR>
</P>
<P align="center"><B><U>III.
WHAT IS SCIENCE?</U></B> </P>
<P><B>WEEK
FIVE (September 22-26): The Methods of Science</B></P>
<P>
**Ian G. Barbour, <U>Issues in Science and
Religion</U>, pp. 137 185. For those of you who have had
little or no background in philosophy, this will be difficult
material. The assignment is short, but you may need to read it two
or three times to really understand it. The material is a bit dated,
but it remains, in my judgment, one of the best short discussions of
what it means to know something in science.</P>
<P>
*Bill Joy, "<A href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy.html">Why the Future Doesn't Need Us</A>," <U>Wired</U>,
pp. 238-262.</P>
<P>
*Ian G. Barbour, <U>Issues in Science and Religion</U>, pp.
207-270.
</P>
<P>
*Ian G. Barbour, <U>Religion in an Age of Science</U>,
New York: Harper and Row,Publishers, Vol. I, 1990.</P>
<P>
*Michael Polanyi, <U>The Tacit Dimension</U>, 1966.</P>
<P>
Ronald N. Giere, <U>Understanding Scientific
Reasoning</U>, New York: Holt, Reinhart and Winston, 1979.</P>
<P>
Holmes Rolston, III, <U>Science and Religion: A Critical Survey</U>,
1987.</P>
<P>
Michael Polanyi, <U>Personal Knowledge</U>, 1962.</P>
<P>
Thomas S. Kuhn, <U>The Structure of Scientific Revolutions</U>,
2nd ed. enlarged, 1970.</P>
<P>
William Leiss, <A href="http://books.google.com/books?id=Nd6w3_riZFkC&lpg=PP1&dq=The%20Domination%20of%20Nature&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false" linktext="The Domination of Nature|http://books.google.com/books?id=Nd6w3_riZFkC&lpg=PP1&dq=The%20Domination%20of%20Nature&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false" linktype="raw" rel="nofollow">The Domination of Nature</A>, Boston: Beacon Press,
1974.</P>
<P>
Carl G. Hempel, <U>Philosophy of Natural Science</U>, 1966.</P>
<P>
David L. Hull, <U>Philosophy of Biological Science</U>, 1974.
</P>
<P>
Hilary Putnam, <U>Reason, Truth and History</U>, New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1981.</P>
<P>
Philip Kitcher, <U>Abusing Science: The Case Against
Creationism</U>, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1982.
</P>
<P><BR></BR>
</P>
<P align="center"><U><B>IV.
WHAT IS ETHICS?</B></U></P>
<P><B>WEEK
SIX (September 29 - October 3): Are Moral Judgments Matters of
Knowledge?</B></P>
<P>
**Lilly Marlene-Russo, "Ethical Theory and the
Moral Status of Animals," <U>Hastings Center Report</U>,May-June
1990, pp. 4-8.</P>
<P>
**Allen Wood, "<A href="https://confluence.cornell.edu/display/ENVIROBAER/Relativism">Relativism</A>," unpublished
manuscript, revised 1993. Prof. Wood taught philosophy at
Cornell for many years but now is at Stanford. This piece may be
somewhat difficult for those of you who have had no formal background
in ethics, but it is one of the best short discussions of relativism
I have seen.</P>
<P>
*Mary Midgley, <U>Can't We Make Moral Judgments?</U>,
pp. vii-x, 3-110. Midgley's style rambles a bit, but overall I
find her work solid and one of the better discussions of what really
is at stake in our hesitation to make moral judgments and the
commitment of many people today to moral relativism and subjectivism.
It is a book well worth reading and reading carefully.</P>
<P>
*Wayne C. Booth, <A href="http://books.google.com/books?id=hS8vrZN3AKgC&lpg=PR1&ots=DpwPsgrzzL&dq=%22The%20Rhetoric%20of%20Assent%22&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false" linktext="Modern Dogma and the Rhetoric of Assent|http://books.google.com/books?id=hS8vrZN3AKgC&lpg=PR1&ots=DpwPsgrzzL&dq=%22The%20Rhetoric%20of%20Assent%22&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false" linktype="raw" rel="nofollow">Modern Dogma and the Rhetoric of Assent</A>, 1974, pp. ix xvii, 1-40, 86- 139
(Introduction plus chapters 1 and 3). Booth is not easy reading, but
his ideas are important for understanding the nature of moral
judgments. Note the excellent bibliography on pp. 213 218.
For many years this was an assigned reading in NR 407.</P>
<P>
William K. Frankena, <U>Ethics</U>, 1963.</P>
<P>
Bernard Williams, <U>Morality</U>, 1972.</P>
<P>
John Rawls, <A href="http://books.google.com/books?id=vcVEPc30ut0C&lpg=PP1&dq=%22A%20Theory%20of%20Justice%22&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false" linktext="A Theory of Justice|http://books.google.com/books?id=vcVEPc30ut0C&lpg=PP1&dq=%22A%20Theory%20of%20Justice%22&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false" linktype="raw" rel="nofollow">A Theory of Justice</A>, 1971.</P>
<P>
Stephen Toulmin, <U>Reason in Ethics</U>, 1970.</P>
<P>
Paul Ramsey, <U>Basic Christian Ethics</U>, Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1950.</P>
<P><BR></BR>
</P>
<P><B>WEEK
SEVEN (October 6-10): The Limitations of Rationalism in Ethics</B></P>
<P>
**E.F. Schumacher, "On Philosophical Maps,"
in <U>A Guide for the Perplexed</U>," New York: Harper and
Row, 1977, pp. 1-6.</P>
<P>
**John H. Snow, "Fear of Death and the Need
to Accumulate," in <U>Ecology: Crisis and New Vision</U>, ed.,
Richard E. Sherrell, 1971, pp. 45 58. <U>NOTE: This
piece is on electronic reserve in Mann Library. Please download the
article and bring a copy with you to discussion section.</U></P>
<P>
Paul W. Taylor, "The Ethics of Respect for
Nature," <U>Environmental Ethics</U>, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Fall
1981), pp. 197-218. Taylor's piece is an excellent example of the
(hyper)rationalism Curtin and Gilligan have in mind in their
respective pieces.</P>
<P>
Carol Gilligan, <U>In a Different Voice:
Psychological Theory and Women's Development</U>, Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 1982.
</P>
<P>
Nel Noddings, <U>Caring: a Feminine Approach to
Ethics and Moral Education</U>, Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1984.</P>
<P>
Val Plumwood, "Nature, Self, and Gender:
Feminism, Environmental Philosophy, and the Critique of Rationalism,"
<U>Hypatia</U> Vol. 6, No. 1 (Spring 1991), pp. 3-27.</P>
<P>
Karen Warren, "The Promise and Power of
Ecofeminism," <U>Environmental Ethics</U> Vol. 12, No. 2, pp.
125-146.</P>
<P><BR></BR>
</P>
<P> <U>Note:
Fall break is October 11-14.</U></P>
<P><BR></BR>
</P>
<P>
<B>WEEK EIGHT (October 15-17): Is It Possible to Make
Sound Environmental Policy in a Democratic Society without High
Standards of Truthtelling?</B></P>
<P> **Raymond
Bonner, "Crying Wolf: How the International Wildlife Community
Got Stampeded into Banning Ivory," <U>The New York times
Magazine</U>, February 7, 1993,
</P>
<P> pp.
16ff.</P>
<P>
**Aaron Wildavsky, <U>But is it True?: A Citizen's
Guide to Environmental Health and Safety Issues</U>, Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995, Chapter 14, "Detecting
Errors in Environmental and Safety Issues" (pp. 410-426), and
"Conclusion: Rejecting the Precautionary Principle" (pp.
427-447).</P>
<P>
*If you want to be well-informed about important
environmental issues it is essential that you read as widely as
possible. If you normally get your news from the major TV networks
and, say, the New York Times, Time magazine, etc., I would recommend
that you occasionally read the Review and Outlook section of The Wall
Street Journal. Hearing various points of view on public policy
issues is essential if you want to be well-educated and able to make
rational decisions about how we ought to relate to nature.</P>
<P>
Ronald Bailey, <U>Eco-Scam: The False Prophets of
Ecological Apocalypse</U>, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993.</P>
<P>
<U> </U> Sisela Bok, <U>Lying: Moral Choices in Public
and Private Life</U>, New York: Pantheon Books, 1978.</P>
<P>
<U> </U> Theodore D. Goldfarb, ed., <U>Taking Sides:
Clashing Views on Controversial Environmental Issues</U>, 6th ed.,
Guilford, CT: The Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc., 1995.</P>
<P>_____________________________________________________________________________________________</P>
<P><U> MID-TERM
EXAM: will be held in class on Tuesday, October 21. It will consist
of one short essay (25 minutes) and six mini-essays (4 minutes each)
and will cover the material through week eight. We will schedule two
or three optional review sessions before the exam.</U></P>
<P>_____________________________________________________________________________________________</P>
<P><BR></BR>
</P>
<P><B>WEEK
NINE (October 20-24): Second Week on Truthtelling </B>
</P>
<P>
**Bjorn Lomborg, <U>The Skeptical Environmentalist:
Measuring the Real State of the World</U>, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2001, pp. 3-33. <U>NOTE: This piece is available
at Mann Library on electronic reserve. Bring your copy to section.</U></P>
<P>
**Arthur Waldron, "The Twisted Academy: How
Academics Get Other Cultures Wrong," The American Enterprise,
(Vol. 13, No. 6 (September 2002), pp.38-40.</P>
<P><BR></BR>
</P>
<P> <B><U>V.
ETHICS AND WORLDVIEW</U></B></P>
<P><B>WEEK
TEN (October 27-31: Seeing the World as It Is; The Role of Character
in Ethics</B></P>
<P> NOTE:
Week nine represents a major turning point in the course. So far we
have looked at a range of issues having to do with how we view nature
and man's place in nature. We have briefly talked about what it
means to know something, and particularly about some of the
differences between moral and scientific claims. Now we will begin
to think about who we are as human beings and about how our
understanding of ourselves and of the world we live in affects our
treatment of nature. Rather than a superficial survey of various
religious and philosophical views on the nature of human beings and
on how humans may find the good life, we will focus on just a few
authors and documents from a single tradition. Stanley Hauerwas is
one of the more original contemporary Christian ethicists, Reinhold
Niebuhr is generally recognized as one of the most influential 20th
century American theologians, and the book of Galatians from the New
Testament has profoundly influenced Western culture for close to
2,000 years.</P>
<P> My
past experience in teaching Hauerwas, Niebuhr, and Galatians suggests
that the views which some of you may hold towards religious and
theological concepts (towards terms like sin, righteousness, grace,
reconciliation, salvation, etc.) may make it difficult for you to
understand and appreciate these materials. But these writers deal
with powerful ideas, so even when you disagree with them, try your
best to read these pieces sympathetically. Don't be surprised if you
have to read them several times to understand what the authors are
saying.</P>
<P>
**Stanley Hauerwas, "The Significance of Vision:
Toward an Aesthetic Ethic," pp. 30-47 in <U> </U><A href="http://books.google.com/books?id=O2tEAAAAYAAJ&q=Vision+and+Virtue:+Essays+in+Christian+Ethical+Reflection&dq=Vision+and+Virtue:+Essays+in+Christian+Ethical+Reflection&hl=en&ei=cH0bTbGHEcT48Ab_9LjZDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA" linktext="Vision and Virtue: Essays in Christian Ethical Reflection|http://books.google.com/books?id=O2tEAAAAYAAJ&q=Vision+and+Virtue:+Essays+in+Christian+Ethical+Reflection&dq=Vision+and+Virtue:+Essays+in+Christian+Ethical+Reflection&hl=en&ei=cH0bTbGHEcT48Ab_9LjZDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA" linktype="raw" rel="nofollow">Vision and Virtue: Essays in Christian Ethical Reflection</A>, Notre Dame, Indiana:
University of Notre Dame Press, 1981 (first published in 1974).</P>
<P>
**Stanley Hauerwas, <U>A Community of Character</U>, pp.
9-35 ("A Story-Formed Community: Reflections on <I>Watership
Down</I>"), and pp. 129-135,
</P>
<P> 145-152
("Character, Narrative, and Growth in the Christian Life").</P>
<P>
**Harvey Cox, "Playboy's Doctrine of Male,"
in <U>Christianity and Crisis</U>, Vol. XXI, No. 6 (April 17,
1961).</P>
<P>
*Bernard E. Meland, <U>Higher Education and the Human
Spirit</U>, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953, pp. 61-78
("The Appreciative Consciousness"). </P>
<P><BR></BR>
</P>
<P> <B>Week
Eleven (November 3-7): A Christian View of Human Nature: Sin</B></P>
<P>
**Richard A. Baer, Jr., "Agricultural Ethics at
State Universities: Why No Input
from the Theologians?, <U>Agriculture and Human Values</U>, Vol. 2,
No. 4 (Fall 1985), pp. 41-46. This is a somewhat defensive piece.
It makes the point that there are no good reasons why religious texts
should be excluded from the marketplace of ideas in state colleges
and universities simply because they are religious. </P>
<P>
**Reinhold Niebuhr, "Man as Sinner" and "Sin
as Sensuality," pp. 178-207 and 228-240 in <U> The Nature and
Destiny of Man: A Christian Interpretation</U>, New York:
Charles Scribners Sons, 1955, Vol. I. <U>Note: We were unable to
include this entire assignment in the course packet because of
copyright limitations, so we have placed pages 178-207 on electronic
reserve in Mann Library. Be sure to read the entire assignment and
to bring a copy of pages 178-207 to class in addition to the material
in your course packet.</U></P>
<P>
**Stanley Hauerwas, "Our Sinful Character,"
pp. 46-49 in <U>The Peaceable Kingdom</U>, Notre Dame, Indiana:
University of Notre Dame Press, 1983.</P>
<P>
**Robert Coles, "On Sin," pp. 99-101 in
<U>Harvard Diary: Reflections on the Sacred and the Secular</U>,
New York: Crossroads, 1988.</P>
<P>
Mircea Eliade, <U>The Sacred and the Profane</U>, 1957, pp. 201 213.</P>
<P>
William P. Alston, "Religion," <U>The Encyclopedia of
Philosophy</U>, Vol. 7, pp. 140 145.</P>
<P>
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, <U>Hymn of the Universe</U>,
trans. by Simon Bartholomew, 1965. Read section entitled
"The Spiritual Power of Matter," pp. 59 71.</P>
<P>
Clifford Geertz, "Religion as a Cultural
System," in <U>Reader in Comparative Religion. An
Anthropological Approach</U>, ed. William A. Lessa and Evon
Z. Vogt, 3rd ed., 1972, pp. 167-178.</P>
<P>
Josef Pieper, <U>Leisure: the Basis of Culture</U>, 1952.</P>
<P>
D. Elton Trueblood, <U>Philosophy of Religion</U>,
1957. A straightforward, easily read examination of some of the
classical philosophical problems raised by religious belief.</P>
<P>
Jürgen Moltmann, <U>Man: Christian
Anthropology in the Conflicts of the Present</U>, "What is
Man?" pp. 1 21. </P>
<P><BR></BR>
</P>
<P><B>Week
Twelve (November 10-14): A Christian View of Human Nature: Salvation</B></P>
<P>
**Reinhold Niebuhr, "Wisdom, Grace, and Power,"
pp. 98-126 in Vol. II of <U>The Nature and Destiny of Man: A
Christian Interpretation.</U></P>
<P> **St.
Paul's Letter to the Galatians, chapters 1-6.</P>
<P> **Richard
Baer, "Comments on Galatians," 1990, unpublished notes
for class use.</P>
<P> **Deuteronomy
26:1 9, 6:20 25, Joshua 24:1 3, Deuteronomy 5:6.</P>
<P> <U>A
NOTE ON READING GALATIANS</U>: Most of you who have not read
much in the Bible will likely find Galatians puzzling and in many
ways almost unintelligible. Nonetheless it is an extremely
important document in terms of understanding the early development of
Christianity and its later impact on Western culture. In
lecture I shall present some background material on Galatians and
will emphasize some of the things you should look for as you read
this epistle. In my "Comments on Galatians" I have
tried to pull together a bit of background material and commentary
that should make your reading of the letter easier. You may want to
read Galatians first, then these notes, then reread Galatians. The
Bornkamm and Buttrick references below will also give you
valuable interpretive material on Paul and on Galatians.</P>
<P>
*G. Ernest Wright, <U>God Who Acts</U>, 1962.</P>
<P>
Günther Bornkamm, <U>Paul</U>, trans. by D.M.G. Stalker,
1971.</P>
<P>
George Arthur Buttrick, ed. <U>The Interpreter's
Dictionary of the Bible</U>, Vol. X, "The Epistle to the
Galatians," Introduction and Exegesis by Raymond T. Stamm,
Exegesis by Oscar Fisher Blackwelder, pp. 427 593.
</P>
<BR></BR>
<HR size="2" width="100%"></HR>
<P><U>**NOTE:
AN OUTLINE OF YOUR TERM PAPER IS DUE ON OR BEFORE THE <I>BEGINNING</I>
OF CLASS ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11. IF YOU WISH TO HAND IN A ROUGH
DRAFT OF YOUR PAPER AT THAT TIME WE WILL GIVE YOU FEEDBACK ON IT
BEFORE THANKSGIVING BREAK. THE COMPLETED PAPER IS DUE AT THE
<I>BEGINNING</I> OF CLASS ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2.</U></P>
<HR size="2" width="100%"></HR>
<P><B><BR></BR>
VI.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY IN A PLURALISTIC, DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY</B></P>
<P>
<B>WEEK THIRTEEN (November 17-21): Animal Rights/Welfare
and Liberal Political Theory; Tensions between Concern for
Individual Animals and Concern for Species and Ecosystems</B></P>
<P> <U>NOTE</U>:
In reading Singer and Regan, I want you to pay particular attention
to the assumptions about humans, animals, and nature that each author
makes--assumptions that form the basis of their arguments. Make sure
you are able to articulate these assumptions and can also repeat the
basic steps in the argument each author makes for equal inherent
value for humans and animals (Regan) or for equal consideration of
the interests of animals and humans (Singer). Do you share their
assumptions? How do you think a believing Christian, Jew, or Muslim
would react to Singer and Regan's dismissal of religious views
regarding humans being created in the image of God? (Cf. chapter one,
note 14 on pp. 270-71 in Singer or p. 112 in Regan).</P>
<P>You
might also find it helpful to pay attention to how each author sees
the function of reason in religion. Do you agree with the position
each takes on this subject?</P>
<P>
**Peter Singer, <A href="http://books.google.com/books?id=-0_5SAAACAAJ&dq=Animal+Liberation&hl=en&ei=m4kbTcvTFsG88gaHl6zvDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAA" linktext="Animal Liberation|http://books.google.com/books?id=-0_5SAAACAAJ&dq=Animal+Liberation&hl=en&ei=m4kbTcvTFsG88gaHl6zvDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAA" linktype="raw" rel="nofollow">Animal Liberation</A> 2nd ed., New
York: New York Review, 1990, pp. 1-23; pp. 270-72, note 14.</P>
<P>
**Tom Regan, "The Case for Animal Rights," in
<A href="http://books.google.com/books?id=OvDtAAAAMAAJ&q=Animal+Rights+and+Human+Obligations&dq=Animal+Rights+and+Human+Obligations&hl=en&ei=FoobTZCrNsGp8AbL8L3ZDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA" linktext="Animal Rights and Human Obligations|http://books.google.com/books?id=OvDtAAAAMAAJ&q=Animal+Rights+and+Human+Obligations&dq=Animal+Rights+and+Human+Obligations&hl=en&ei=FoobTZCrNsGp8AbL8L3ZDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA" linktype="raw" rel="nofollow">Animal Rights and Human Obligations</A>, ed. by Tom Regan and
Peter Singer, pp. 105-114.</P>
<P>
**Three short articles on Utilitarianism, Rights-based
ethics, and Social Contract theory will be handed out in class. I
have not yet located suitable pieces.</P>
<P>
*J. Baird Callicott, "Animal Liberation: A
Triangular Affair," chapter 1 in <U>In Defense of the Land
Ethic</U>, Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1989, pp.15-38, 268-275. </P>
<P>
*J. Baird Callicott, "The Conceptual Foundations
of the Land Ethic," Chapter 5 in <U> In Defense of the Land
Ethic</U>, Albany: State University Press of New York, 1989, pp.
75-99.</P>
<P>
Lewis G. Regenstein, "The Bible's Message of
Conservation and Kindness to Animals," chap. 1, pp. 19-44 in
<U>Replenish the Earth</U>, New York: Crossroad,1991.</P>
<P>
Jan E. Dizard, <U>Going Wild: Hunting, Animal Rights,
and the Contested Meaning of Nature</U>, Amherst, Mass.: University
of Massachusetts Press, 1994.</P>
<P>
Keith Tester, <U>Animals and Society: the Humanity of
Animal Rights</U>, New York: Routledge, 1991.</P>
<P>
Michael P.T. Leahy, <U>Against Liberation: Putting
Animals in Perspective</U>, New York: Routledge, 1991.</P>
<P>
Thomas R. Dunlap, <U>Saving America's Wildlife:
Ecology and the American Mind, 1850- 1990</U>, Prince: Princeton
University Press, 1988.</P>
<P>
J.J.C. Smart, "Utilitarianism," Vol. 8, pp.
206-212, in <U>The Encyclopedia of Philosophy</U>, ed.Paul Edwards,
New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1967.</P>
<P>
Stanley I. Benn, "Rights," Vol. 7, pp. 195-199, in <U>The
Encyclopedia of Philosophy</U>. </P>
<P> </P>
<P><BR></BR>
</P>
<B>WEEK
FOURTEEN (November 24-25): Are Liberalism and Environmentalism
Compatible? </B>
<P> </P>
<P> <U>NOTE:
Because of Thanksgiving holiday, there will be no discussion sections
this week. We will discuss the assigned pieces during sections on
December 4 and 5.</U></P>
<P>
**Stanley Hauerwas, "The Church and Liberal
Democracy: The Moral Limits of a Secular Polity," chapter 4, pp.
72-86, in <U>A Community of Character</U>.</P>
<P>
**Richard A. Baer, Jr., "The High Court's 'S'
Word," <U>Christianity Today</U>, Vol. 33, No. 12 (September
8, 1989), 20-21.</P>
<P> **Robert
Coles, "The Hero Without and Within," pp. 113-117 in
<U>Harvard Diary</U>.</P>
<P>
*Michael Eldridge, "Theology and Agricultural
Ethics in the State University: A Reply to Richard Baer,"
<U>Agriculture and Human Values</U>, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Fall 1985), pp.
47-53.</P>
<P>
*Richard A. Baer, Jr., "Theology and Agricultural
Ethics at State Universities: A Rejoinder,"in Agriculture and
Human Values, Vol. VI., No. 3 (Summer 1989), pp. 99-104.</P>
<P>
*Richard A. Baer, Jr., "<A href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=U&start=4&q=http://downloads.weblogger.com/gems/cpj/SupremeCourtsDiscrim.pdf&e=7152">The Supreme Court's
Discriminatory Use of the Term 'Sectarian,'</A>" <U>The Journal of
Law and Politics</U>, Vol. VI, No. 3 (spring 1990) pp. 449-468. This
piece focuses mainly on religion and education; I mention it here
because it contains important ideas about whether ethics based on
religious convictions ought to be acceptable in formulating public
policy and structuring our common life.</P>
<P>
Thomas A. Spragens, Jr., <U>The Irony of Liberal
Reason</U>, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1981.</P>
<P>
Jeffrey Stout, <U>Ethics After Babel: The Languages
of Morals and Their Discontents</U>, Boston: Beacon Press, 1988.</P>
<BR></BR>
<HR size="2" width="100%"></HR>
<P><B>Thanksgiving recess begins at 1:10 p.m. Wed Nov 26.
Classes resume 7:30 a.m. on Monday, December 1. </B>
</P>
<HR size="2" width="100%"></HR>
<P><B><BR></BR>
WEEK
FIFTEEN (December 1-5): More on Liberalism and Environmentalism;
Praise For All Things</B>
</P>
<P> **Richard
A. Baer, Jr., "Praise for All Things," <U>The
Princeton Seminary Bulletin</U>, Vol. II. No. 2 (New
Series), 1979.</P>
<P>
Alasdair MacIntyre, <U>After Virtue: A Study in Moral
Theory</U>, Notre Dame, Indiana: The University of Notre Dame
Press, 1981.
</P>
<P>
Richard John Neuhaus, <U>The Naked Public Square</U>, Grand Rapids,
MI: Eerdmans, 1984.
</P>
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