Angry Mermaid Award!

Vote for which corporations have made the greatest effort to sabotage the prevention of climate change! Keep in mind, each of these listed corporations have made "bullshit" proposals to help battle climate change that end up being much more profitable than effective!

Angry Mermaid Nominees!

Optional Paper topics

Hey Everyone,

So I'm thinking about the optional paper topics and I want to write about the ethics of reading, and draw heavily from Thoreau's essay in Walden on reading. It was a close call between that and plastic trees. I was wondering what other people picked for a third topic, and, would it be possible for us to put our third papers online or something for the whole class to see? It might be fun to just see the variety of specific things that interest different people. If you don't like the idea, feel free to veto it.

-Arjun

PS--I haven't done the Blog so far b/c I thought I was bad with computers, but this is pretty easy.

New National Park Service Director

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113697978

Here's a link to an interview with the new director of the National Park Service. Pretty short, but mentions restrictions on snow mobile use in Yellowstone.

-Dana

Life After People

We were talking about anthropocentrism in class today. Many people are concerned about how the environment will change but is this really about how the environment will change the lives of human beings? What about life after people?

The History Channel made a film about this (link below)

Life After People

Hope you enjoy it!

Child Labor in Uzbek: Repercussions of Speaking Out

This is going back to the 11/10 lecture and the article referring to examples of paternalism... I'm wondering if the individual who divulged the information to BBC would have changed his mind if he knew he was going to be harmed out of his attempt to help others.

Activist 'beaten' after BBC story

Groundhog Day

For anyone interested in watching part or all of Groundhog Day, here is the link to Part 1 of ten on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MoOvPIuKAY&feature=related

A Series of Great Films to Accompany Great Literature

We have been reading a lot of thought-provoking material in the past weeks on various ethical issues and approaches to core ethical question of "How should one live?"   There seem to be a number of films coming out that deal with ethical issues we are discussing in class.  Adding to the post before mine, there are a few films that are out in theaters in the coming weeks that may be worth your time. 

In addition to"The Invention of Lying" (which was very thought-provoking - is the world actually made better if there is no lying?), there is also "Surrogates," "Where the Wild Things Are," and "The Box" (coming out November 6).  "The Box" poses the following moral dilemma: pushing a button will instantly earn you one million dollars, but will also kill someone you do not know; do you push it?

"Where the Wild Things Are" does not necessarily fit in the category of dealing with ethical issues, but is in the broader category of how should one deal with issues in general, and the foundation of a person's character.  I wanted to share a link to a NY Times Opinion article related to the movie that I found to be very well-written on this subject of morality:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/opinion/20brooks.html

- Jess

"The Invention of Lying" On the Topic of Lying vs. Bullshit

I just saw this preview for "The Invention of Lying" recently and thought it'd be interesting to share with all of you considering it's fairly pertinent with what we had been discussing just a week ago. It's literally about a man who stumbles upon the ability to lie in a world where no one has ever lied before, and how he exploits it. Enjoy.

The Invention of Lying

-Brian Han

Saints, Heroes, and Well-Lived Lives

originally posted Sept 23, 2007:

Here is a web broadcast of an NPR program on "Moral Saints" that features an interview with Susan Wolf. Below are the listening notes on the program:

About the Guest

Susan Wolf is Edna J. Koury Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her primary areas of research are moral philosophy and the philosophy of mind. She is the author of Freedom Within Reason (Oxford UP 1993), where she makes a case for freedom as the ability to act in accordance with one's values and the ability to form one's values in light of an appreciation of the True and the Good. Professor Wolf's current research focuses on the relations among happiness, morality, and meaningfulness in life.

Listening Notes

What are moral saints and heroes? Saints and heroes are people that go above and beyond the call of duty. In philosophical jargon, this is called "supererogation". Most moral theories divide actions into three categories: that which is obligatory, that which is forbidden, and that which is optional. Would we have better lives if we were more like the saints and heroes? Ken introduces Susan Wolf, professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Wolf defines a moral saint as a person that is as morally good as can possibly be. Wolf says that while it would be good for there to be moral saints, she wouldn't want to be too close to them. Wolf distinguishes two kinds of saints: loving saints, people that act out of love for everyone, and dutiful saints, people that act out of feelings of duty or obligation.

Wolf argues that it would be very hard to be friends with a saint because they would make you aware of your imperfections. Wolf defines a hero as a person that does one act or one kind of act heroically, and she thinks that it would be easier to be friends with a hero than with a saint. War heroes seem to be a special class of heroes. Are they somehow braver or just unlucky? Should we strive to have a maximally moral life as our life goal? Wolf thinks that it may be obligatory to do something heroic, such as a secret service officer jumping in front of a bullet to save the president. This is one difference between heroism and sainthood. John suggests that we need to distinguish two kinds of loving saints, those in love with an abstract idea and those that care deeply about particular people.

Are there situations in which we could be required to do things that are otherwise above and beyond the call of duty? Wolf thinks there are and that we should raise the bar of what is expected of the average person. Wolf thinks that aspiring to sainthood prevents us from having well-lived lives. If you start giving in to the demands of morality, how do you know where to stop? Wolf thinks that the line is determined partly by what you are interested in and is somewhat arbitrary. Wolf distinguishes between moral relativism and moral pluralism.

• Amy Standen the Roving Philosophical Reporter (Seek to 04:35): Amy Standen asks some people on the streets what they think saints and heroes are.

• Ian Shoales the Sixty Second Philosopher (Seek to 49:55): Ian Shoales give a quick biography of his hero, a war hero, writer, and actor.

Enjoy.

The rights of nature

The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) is a Pennsylvania nonprofit dedicated to asserting the rights of nature and having such rights codified into law. Check out their website at:

http://www.celdf.org/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

How far do rights go?

Here's a clip from Ghost in the Shell that made me think of class today (9/29), how far do we go with rights? Like other sci-fi robot films (AI or iRobot), what rights do they have? They can think and act, even independently, so what rights do they have. So if a robot has rights, can the earth??? How far do we go with rights?

Austin Powers: is this international man of mystery doing or allowing harm?

You decide: is Austin Powers doing or allowing harm?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLlUgilKqms

Interview with Harry Frankfurt on bullshit

Here is an interview with Harry Frankfurt that can help you with understanding his essay on bullshit.

originally posted 9/21/07

Crying Wolf Over Elephants

Here's a link to the 1993 NY Times Magazine article by Raymond Bonner, "Crying Wolf Over Elephants." Would be interested to hear what anyone thinks about Bonner's assessment of the issue.

Soda Tax

While reading the NY Times today, I ran across an article (found online at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/17/business/17soda.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=soda&st=cse) on the front page of the Business section about how a tax should be imposed on sugary beverages like soda. This, supporters argue, would help fight obesity and raise funds for the health care reform. As someone who doesn't drink soda, I can honestly say I am biased in favor of such a tax, but what do you think? Is it right for the government to influence what we drink?

The Trolley Problem: A Short Film

this is great--who would have thought that there was this much philosophy on YouTube!!

my thanks to Jesse D for the heads up.

Neurath's boat

There are many references to Neurath's boat in various places on the web, and one nice paper that relates to ethics is by Gilbert Harman of Princeton University. "Three Trends in Moral and Political Philosophy" is available as a pdf file and may be of interest to some of you.

for more on Apollo 13:

The Truman Show and philosophy

There are any number of sites with philosophical discussion of The Truman Show on the web. Sam Vaknin's "Seahaven: A Moral Deliberation" focuses on the ethical side of things and is a pretty decent essay. I'm sure there are more--if you find any worth mentioning, please post a link here.

thanks.
Jim

Welcome to Ethics and the Environment, Fall 2009 version

Hi everyone,
glad to get the class started today. Enjoy the blog, and please do share items that you run across that relate (however broadly) to the subject matter of the course.

Jim

Recreation in the National Parks

From a long time ago, but I just figured out how to post as a new blog, rather than a comment!

After talking today in class about what forms of recreation in the national parks are intrinsically better than another it got me thinking of a personal story from this past summer, that I included in my Mill v. Sax Paper, but I think everyone might find it interesting:

"In defense of Sax’s position that the parks should be kept as natural as possible, I recall a personal anecdote from my family trip to Alaska this past summer. Denali National Park is a six million acre preserve originally set aside as a national park in 1917. Set in the heart of Alaska, Denali is a majestic park that I have always been enthralled with since I was a young child. To me, it seemed as though Denali was one of America’s last great wildernesses; a place where grizzly bears and moose far outnumbered people. All this set against the backdrop of Mount McKinley, the highest, and perhaps most spectacular peak in North America. Denali was one of the last places my family visited on our two-week trip to Alaska and I was effervescent with anticipation until the moment we arrived there.
Our tour bus pulled up to the Princess™ “Wilderness” Lodge right outside of the park boundary and I was appalled at what I saw. This “wilderness” lodge was more like a Disneyworld resort, packed full of tourists who seemed as though they had taken a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in the middle of Alaska. Across the street from the resort there was a “scenic” cable car ride that took you to the top of a nearby mountain, as well as a strip mall crammed with restaurants, souvenir shops and even a Harley Davidson Motorcycle outlet! The physical and symbolic scar that was left on this landscape by human development was palpable. It felt like a bad dream, all my life I had envisioned Denali as an unspoiled, expansive wilderness, and here I was, standing outside a McDonald’s only feet from the Denali park border. I was dejected. Technically, this development was allowed because it was mere feet outside of the park’s borders, but that didn’t change my opinion of it. The over-development of such a wonderful natural area detracted from my personal experience while visiting the park."

Any thoughts or comments?

-Matt

Ethics of Hunting

From a long time ago, but I just figured out how to post as a new blog, rather than a comment!

I found the discussion of bear hunting with hounds and jelly donuts today in class especially interesting, particularly when the issue was raised: is it unsportsmanlike to hunt in such a manner and if so, should that be penalizable? It was brought up that in sports such as basketball and football that acting in a respectful "sportsmanlike" manner is a personal decision, which not everyone chooses to follow. If a person chooses to act unsportsmanlike this doesn't get penalized. The problem I had with that is in sports such as football, basketball or baseball that's simply not true. If an athlete acts unsportsmanlike in any way he is subject to consequences such as penalties for his team or being ejected from the game. So taking it back to the bear hunting argument, if it is indeed a sport like basketball and football, shouldn't hunters be held accountable if they behave in ways that are deemed unsportsmanlike by their specific sport? Not to say I believe this, I am merely playing devil's advocate and offering up some food for thought

P.S. I found some interesting bear hunting video's with hounds on YouTube; you decide if its ethical or not.

http://video.google.com/videosearch?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS292&q=bear+hunting+with+dogs&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#

It's Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature

retro 70s margarine commercials, as promised in class. enjoy!



more info at http://www.tvacres.com/admascots_mothernature.htm .

Join the Thoreauvian Small House Movement

Animal Rights

Hi guys.
I had to read this article for my debate class and I thought it was really interesting. It discusses ethics in regards to animal rights. A lot of the concepts we covered in this class appear in the debate, like utilitarianism and moral philosophy.
Just thought a lot of you might enjoy it...

http://www.utilitarian.net/singer/interviews-debates/200106--.htm