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Essay Topics
1. Propose and defend a specific strategy for confronting
the issue of global warming. In doing so, address each of the
following questions:
a) What magnitude of change
in average global surface temperatures should we assume will occur?
How do we make this judgment?
b) What are the expected
consequences of any increase in average temperatures? How do we know?
And how reliable is our information?
c) What state of affairs
should we be trying to obtain? Justify your position by being explicit
about the ethical framework you are adopting.
d) What is the best policy
for achieving that state of affairs? Why? Comment upon how the uncertainty
in our knowledge should effect our policy decisions.
You will want to use empirical information from lecture and readings
to support your claims. You also can find additional material on
the course website "global warming" links.
2. a) Is there in any meaningful
sense a "population problem"?
b) Is it a problem
of human population? consumption? sustainability? In other
words, what is the right way to conceptualize the problem? Justify
your viewpoint. [Note you should be able to answer this
question even if you are claiming there is no obvious problem.]
c) What ethical framework
are you assuming in recognizing the problem or its non-existence?
Be explicit here.
d) YES to (a): What
is the essence of this problem? And what seems the best way to confront
it? or
NO to (a): Justify why you are sure there is no problem.
In answering this question
you should refer to the views of at least three of the authors or philosophers
we have read in this course.
3. Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic endorses the following as
its core ethical principle:
"A thing is right when it
tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community.
It is wrong when it tends otherwise."
Evaluate this position as a viable ethical stance by addressing the
following questions:
(a) What do
you believe is meant by each of the key terms - integrity, stability, beauty,
and biotic community - in the principle? How do they fit together?
(b) Is the Land
Ethic, in essence, a stance of enlightened self interest (on the part of
individual humans) or is it a truly non-anthropocentric framework?
Justify your assessment in part by referring to specific statements in
the Leopold essay.
(c) Does the
Land Ethic make us all slaves to ecology? If so, is this a problem?
[Basically, I'm asking you to reflect upon the connection between scientific
knowledge, with its empirical claims, and ethics here.]
(d) Is the principle
viable for guiding human actions? Could we use it in practice?
Include a concrete example in your discussion. [Recall Solow's claim:
"... it is very important to keep in mind that you cannot be morally obligated
to do something that is not feasible".]
NOTE: Reading
the Callicott essay carefully will be helpful in answering these questions.
4. Critically evaluate Kenneth Goodpaster's argument for
"being a living thing" as a criterion of moral considerability. Consider
the following:
(a) What is
the significance of finding a criterion of moral considerability?
What should a good criterion be able to give us?
(b) How does
Goodpaster argue against Singer's "sentience" position? How successful
is this argument?
(c) How does
Goodpaster argue against Feinberg's "interests" position? How successful
is this argument?
(d) Evaluate
Goodpaster's argument overall. How acceptable is Goodpaster's "being
a living thing" criterion? Justify your position, keeping in mind
your response to (a).
5. Outline a policy regarding hunting of grey whales by
the Makah tribes. Inform your discussion with information regarding
Makah hunting provided on the course website or gathered from other sources.
(a) Outline a particular
ethical framework and briefly justify it. [i.e. adopt one of the
frameworks we have discussed in class.]
(b) Develop a policy
regarding hunting of grey whales in accordance with this ethical framework.
Consider issues such as: Can hunting ever be justified? Under
what circumstances? Should there be limits on the number of whales
killed, constraints on methods used for the hunt or who may be involved,
or requirements concerning how the whales can be used?
(c) Being as explicit
as possible, show how your policy recommendations depend upon the ethical
framework you have adopted.
(d) What difficulties
do you see? Are there ways in which the framework does not provide
adequate guidance for policy decisions? Are there issues you do not
believe can be addressed easily?
6. Critically evaluate Robert Elliot's rebuttal of the
restoration thesis.
(a) What is the restoration
thesis?
(b) Which objection
to Elliot's position discussed in the article is most successful or significant?
Why?
(c) How convincing
is Elliot's response to the objection you selected? Could he have
made a better one? If so, what would that response have been?
(d) How successful
is Elliot's argument overall? Do you buy it? Can you think
of other serious objections not discussed in the article?
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