Research Resource and Assignment Page

Class Research Resources and Assignments

Week 4

Selected Writers on Environmental Ethics:
The Terrain and Main Components of Debate
Week's Assigned Readings
Full Lecture - Week 4

[First Exercise - Due in Class - 20 October]

"....But man, proud man,
Drest in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he's most assur'd,
His glassy essence, like an angry ape,
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven,
As make the angels weep...."

William Shakespeare

A number of thinkers and writers have contributed to the development of thinking about environmental ethics, and it is worth considering some of their specific contributions. What are the major traditions that have emerged or are currently taking shape in environmental ethics? What are the strengths and weaknesses of particular writers? Are writers from the past relevant today? What about the "received" ethical and religious traditions present in the world today?

Some of the leading religious leaders have begun to focus upon the discussions of environmental ethics, but the role of religion in environmental matters has been a controversial one. Several years ago it seemed apparent to many historians of culture that the received traditions of religious belief in the Western World may have to be "rethought" in light of the need for a new kind of environmental ethics appropriate to our contempory world.

In 1989 the Harvard Divinity School convened a conference on these matters, and numerous papers were prepared for discussion. Some of these papers outlined the tremendous task that lay ahead as a challenge for Western theologians if they hoped to make a significant contribution to the emerging field of environmental ethics. One of the papers presented at the conference, published by the Harvard Divinity Bulletin (1989), was entitled: '"While Angels Weep..." Doing Theology on A Small Planet.' (The Harvard Divinity Bulletin, XIX, 3 (1989). Another short paper that focused on the difficulty of overcoming culturally ingrained habits and structures of thought in the Abramic religions (Hebrew, Christian and Muslim religions) was publshed in the Harvard Divinity Bulletin in the following year. [see: "The Need for Miracles in the Age of Science," The Harvard Divinity Bulletin, XX, 2, (Summer 1900)].

Exceptionalist Religious Belief

Note: It is important to pay attention to the fundamental "exceptionalism" that is a major component of all Abramic religions -- Judiasm, Christianity and Islam. It is precisely this kind of thinking that seems to be able to convince people that we are separate from nature, that 'God' has entitled and empowered us to do specific things in history -- including doing things to nature -- and that we will be "saved" from all cataclysms by our 'faith.' This is, after all, what makes the faithful so exceptional, according to this line of reasoning. Elements of this worldview can be seen to be motivating many important public figures in the world today. Consider, Frontline's recent report on George W. Bush, entitled "The Jesus Factor."

Frontline: The Jesus Factor
20 May 2004

Furthermore, on this issue, you should view a discussion of the religious worldview of President Bush and its implications for the current political campaign through the coverage from Democracy Now on 20 October 2004, entitled: "God & The Presidency: An In-Depth Examination Of Faith In The Bush White House."

Sometimes disputes arise between those who feel they are annointed or appointed by 'God.' See, for example, the recent statements of Pat Robinson concerning President Bush's confidence about the war in Iraq.

A chilling accout of the doctrinaire rigidity and absolute certainty of those who hold an "exceptionalist" worldview is available in the article by Ron Suskind in the New York Times, Sunday Magazine (17 October 2004), entitled, "Without a Doubt." Suskind points out that James Wallis has described President Bush recently as "a messianic American Calvinist."

The sense of historical self-importance and the ability of those possessed with President Bush's worldview to dismiss mere "reality-based" concerns is very revealing and somewhat disturbing. This underscores the importance of what we have discussed in class -- that is, the ability of a worldview to override any evidence and re-define reality in terms that conform to its categories of perception.

Ron Suskind relates, for example, a conversation he had with a White House aide which underscores the implicit "theory of agency" that dominates this moral perspective:

'In the summer of 2002, after I had written an article in Esquire that the White House didn't like about Bush's former communications director, Karen Hughes, I had a meeting with a senior adviser to Bush. He expressed the White House's displeasure, and then he told me something that at the time I didn't fully comprehend -- but which I now believe gets to the very heart of the Bush presidency.'

'The aide said that guys like me were ''in what we call the reality-based community,'' which he defined as people who ''believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ''That's not the way the world really works anymore,'' he continued. ''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.''' [Ron Suskind, Without a Doubt, NYT-Magazine, 17 October 2004]

This excerpt can give you a sense of the "exceptionalism" at work in the White House under this administration. In reading the full article you can discern the implied theories of community, system, authority, change, agency and time that motivate this worldview and animate its sense of morality. Anyone who does not share these implict theories would have a significantly different worldview and, hence, would be guided by a different ethic.

Finally, you may wish to listen to what foreign observers have to say about this type of belief system and its role in American politics, particularly during a national election (the 2004 election). Justin Webb, BBC Correspondant

More recently -- since the 2004 election in the United States -- the question of religious mandate has surfaced in both national and international areanas. Fundamentalist religious leaders have emerged around the world, controlling the political and social agenda for hundreds of millions of people. You can listen to a discussion of these matters in a recent nationally broadcast program on the rise of "Religious Fundamentalism."

In addition, consider, the coverage of religious belief and international issues in the Middle East raised by the BBC documentary that is to be aired this past week:

"Bush's Mission From God?," CBS News Online, (6 October 2005).
The Palestinian information minister told the BBC he and his prime minister were once in a meeting at which President Bush said God told him to go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Ewen MacAskill, "George Bush: 'God told me to end the tyranny in Iraq:' President told Palestinians God also talked to him about Middle East peace," The Guardian International, (7 October 2005).

"Bush God comments 'not literal'," BBC News Online, (7 October 2005, 18:09 GMT 19:09 UK Friday).

and earlier today....

Maura Reynolds,"Questions of Faith," NPR - WBUR - On Point, (13 October 2005).

Supplementary Case Study Material

The ethical dilemmas involved in the ivory trade (consider comments in class) can highlight the problems of trying to analyze the discourse of environmental ethics in general. A number of different parties are clearly identifiable in the debates. For example, it is possible to identify several voices from areas in which elephants live including those from southern Africa, India, East Africa. In addition, there are other parties to the debate that come from areas where no elephants live at all, including conservationists in America and proponents of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Weiskel's "Cheat Sheet:" Tools for Assessing Environmental Ethics An adequate assessment of the environmental ethics of the ivory trade requires us to identify, analyze and evaluate the arguments of each of the parties in this debate. This can be done by comparing and contrasting the implicit moral theories of each party in the debate. In considering the ivory trade controversy, therefore, you can ask yourself: "What are the implicit theories of community, system, authority, agency, change and time held by each of the several different parties in the debate?" There is no reason, of course, to limit this kind of debate to elephants and ivory. By extension, the environmental ethics of humankind's interaction with any other specific species can be approached in the same manner. In each case, it is possible to identify, analyze and evaluate the arguments involved, first by describing the parties in the debate and then assessing the ethical principles which are invoked by each party through an examination of their implicit theories of community, system, authority, agency, change and time. Elephants are a particularly charismatic terrestrial mammal, but what about the case of marine mammals? What would be an appropriate way to evaluate the environmental ethics of whale hunting? By way of practicing your analytical skills in environmental ethics, consider some of the following issues:
	Should Inuits have the recognized right to kill whales?	Sunday, 13 October, 2002, 13:32 GMT 14:32 UK Inuit demand whale catch By Alex Kirby BBC News Online environment correspondent A whaling dispute which is setting remote Arctic communities against the Japanese Government could soon be resolved. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is holding a special meeting on 14 October to try to heal the rift. The future of about 80 bowhead whales and 50 minkes annually depends on the outcome. The IWC itself could be at risk if the meeting ends without a solution. Although a moratorium on commercial whaling has been in effect since 1986, the IWC has always allowed small communities, mainly in the Caribbean and the Arctic, to continue to catch a few whales.
	Should any humans kill whales?	Thursday, 6 June, 2002, 09:59 GMT 10:59 UK Should whaling be permitted? Pro-whaling countries, led by Japan, are attempting to have a 15-year ban on commercial whaling lifted at this year's meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Anti-whaling campaigners scored an unexpected victory in the first vote to be taken at the conference, but support for the pro-whaling lobby is said to be building. The result of the vote meant that Iceland, which wants to see a return to commercial whaling, will now be excluded from joining the IWC. The UK Fisheries Minister, Elliot Morley, said the result was better than expected and a very good sign, but he cautioned that anti-whaling countries could face tougher resistance in their effort to maintain the existing global ban on whaling. Should whaling be permitted? What do you think will be achieved at the IWC meeting?
		Friday, 24 May, 2002, 11:06 GMT 12:06 UK Whaling summit ends in deadlock The International Whaling Commission's (IWC) summit in Japan has ended with the ban on commercial hunting in place for another year, but nations divided over whaling for indigenous peoples. A move to allow aboriginal whaling was defeated after pro-whaling nations voted down a compromise giving indigenous peoples in the US and Russia rights to hunt a limited number of whales for their own consumption. Japan led the rebellion against what it considers a hypocritical measure after it lost a vote earlier this week to extend whaling in its own coastal areas. Correspondents say the conference - in the Japanese town of Shimonoseki - was the most divisive in years, marred by unprecedented bitterness between the pro- and anti-whaling nations. The IWC's Swedish chairman, Bo Fernholm, called the meeting to a close after thanking the Japanese hosts for their gracious hospitality. But it was Japan which spearheaded the bloc against renewing the hunting rights for indigenous people. The BBC's Clive Myrie "For the Japanese, hunting whales is a god-given right" [What is a "god-given right?" Who says so? "God?" Whose "God?"]
What about other species, marine or otherwise, that are not well known "charismatic megafauna" like elephants or whales?
	For example, what about our "close relatives?" Do they deserve special "respect?"	Monday, 7 October, 2002, 17:01 GMT 18:01 UK Third of primates 'risk extinction' By Alex Kirby BBC News Online environment correspondent One-third of the world's primate species now face a serious risk of extinction, according to a report by an international group of conservationists. They say the number of threatened species has risen sharply in the last three years. Primates living in two south-east Asian countries are said to be especially endangered. But several species are judged a little safer than they used to be. The report is entitled Primates In Peril: The World's Top 25 Most Endangered Primates. It is published by Conservation International (CI) and the primate specialist group of IUCN, the World Conservation Union.
What if the species are not in fact "endangered?" Do we have the "right" to kill them anyway?
	Why are so may people so intent upon the "right" to go fox hunting? How is intergenerational responsibility invoked in this debate?	Sunday, 22 September, 2002, 15:01 GMT 16:01 UK Thousands march for countryside More than 300,000 people from across the country are marching through central London to highlight the needs of rural communities. The main focus of the protest is opposition to a ban on hunting with dogs in England and Wales, but a wide range of other grievances from rural communities are also being linked with the demonstration. Hunting horns and whistles echoed around Hyde Park as tens of thousands of protesters mingled with a handful of bemused tourists and disgruntled joggers. The BBC's Luisa Baldini "Many fear a fox hunting ban will harm future generations." Should those who go fox hunting have the right to forbid others from killing whales?
What about the entire "list" of endangered species -- or for that matter -- those about whom we do not even know enough to place on a list?
	Other species seem to face a "tough fight" for survival. Why is the "Red List" meaningful for environmental ethics?	Monday, 7 October, 2002, 23:35 GMT 00:35 UK Species face tough fight for survival By Alex Kirby BBC News Online environment correspondent A central Asian antelope, a camel and the Iberian lynx all face a high risk of extinction, scientists say. They are now classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as critically endangered. Its updated Red List of Threatened Species says more than 11,000 creatures now face extinction. But two, an insect and a rodent, previously thought extinct, have been rediscovered. Since the last edition of the list two years ago, over 400 new species have been assessed.