Environmental Ethics

PHIL255 – Spring 2026

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Module 1 Natural resources

Week 1

01-26-26
01-28-26

Week 2 Values

02-02-26
02-04-26

  1. J. Rachels and S. Rachels. “What is Morality?” In: The Elements of Moral Philosophy. McGraw-Hill New York, 1993. Link

Week 3 Population Growth

02-09-26

  1. K. Elliott. “An introduction to values in science.” In: A Tapestry of Values. Oxford University Press, 2017. Chap. 1. Link

02-11-26

  1. P. Ehrlich. The Population Bomb (Excerpts). New York: Ballantine Books, 1968. Link

  2. J. Simon. The Ultimate Resource (Excerpts). 1981. Link

  3. Washington Post Editorial Board. “The world’s population is 8 billion and rising. That’s probably a good thing.” The Washington Post (Nov. 2022). Link

  4. N. Oreskes. “Eight Billion People in the World Is a Crisis, Not an Achievement.” Scientific American (Mar. 2023). Link

Week 4 Prophets versus wizards

02-16-26

  1. C. Mann. “Can planet earth feed 10 billion people?” The Atlantic 23 (2018). Link

02-18-26

  1. J. Ausubel. “Nature Rebounds.” In: Long Now Foundation Seminar. San Francisco, Jan. 2015. Link

Week 5 The commons

02-23-26

  1. K. Elliott. “How should we study it?” In: A Tapestry of Values. Oxford University Press, 2017. Chap. 3. Link

02-25-26

  1. G. Hardin. “The tragedy of the commons.” Science 162 (1968), pp. 1243–1248. Link

Week 6 Incentives

03-02-26

  1. R. Roberts. “Incentives Matter.” Econlib (2016). Link

  2. M. Munger. “They Clapped: Can Price-Gouging Laws Prohibit Scarcity?” Econlib (2007). Link

  3. L. Gross. “A human taste for rarity spells disaster for endangered species.” PLoS Biology 4 (2006), e439. Link

  4. Optional: M. Sandel. “It’s Immoral to Buy the Right to Pollute.” New York Times (1997). Link

03-04-26

  1. “Handout: Externalities and Government Intervention”. Link

  2. M. Valo. “Guadeloupe and Martinique threatened as pesticide contaminates food chain.” The Guardian (2013). Link

  3. Optional: D. Arnold and K. Bustos. “Business, ethics, and global climate change.” Business & Professional Ethics Journal 24 (2005), pp. 103–130. Link E. Rosenthal and A. Lehren. “Profits on Carbon Credits Drive Output of a Harmful Gas.” The New York Times (2012). Link

Week 7

03-09-26
03-11-26

  1. Exam #1

Week 8

03-16-26*
03-18-26*

Module 2 Expanding the moral circle

Week 9 What is wrong with inequality?

03-23-26

  1. K. Elliott. “What should we study?” In: A Tapestry of Values. Oxford University Press, 2017. Chap. 2. Link

03-25-26

  1. J. Boyce. “The environmental cost of inequality.” Scientific American 319 (2018), pp. 72–77. Link

  2. H. Frankfurt. “Economic Equality as a Moral Ideal.” In: On Inequality. Princeton University Press, 2015. Link

  3. M. Hanna-Attisha. “How a Pediatrician Became a Detective.” The New York Times (2018). Link

  4. Optional: S. Bowles and A. Jayadev. “One nation under guard.” The New York Times (2014). Link

Week 10 Is it all about outcomes?

03-30-26

  1. Make-up day

04-01-26

  1. R. Shafer-Landau. “Consequentialism.” In: The Fundamentals of Ethics. 2009. Link

Week 11 Global poverty

04-06-26

  1. P. Singer. “The Logic of Effective Altruism.” Boston Review (2015). Link

  2. P. Singer. “Good charity, bad charity.” The New York Times (2013). Link

04-08-26

  1. E. Hoel. “Why I am not an effective altruist.” The Intrinsic Perspective (2022). Link

  2. J. Sachs, A. Mellinger, and J. Gallup. “The geography of poverty and wealth.” Scientific American 284 (2001), pp. 70–75. Link

Week 12 Sustainable growth

04-13-26

  1. D. Acemoglu. “The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty.” Cato Policy Report (2012). Link

  2. D. Acemoglu. “Response to Effective Altruism.” Boston Review (2015). Link

  3. Optional: D. Acemoglu and J. Robinson. “The problem with U.S. inequality.” The Huffington Post (2012). Link; D. Acemoglu and J. Robinson. “Why foreign aid fails—and how to really help Africa.” The Spectator (2014). Link

04-15-26

  1. I. Kant. “We have no duties to animals.” Lectures on Ethics (1930). Link

  2. F. De Waal. “Animal rights.” In: Primates and philosophers: How morality evolved. Princeton University Press, 2009. Link

Week 13 Animal welfare

04-20-26

  1. P. Singer. “All animals are equal.” In: Animal Liberation. Harper Collins, 1975. Link

04-22-26

  1. J. Diamond. “Must we shoot deer to save nature?” Natural History 101 (1992), pp. 2–6. Link

  2. N. Hettinger. “Conceptualizing and Evaluating Non-Native Species.” Nature Education Knowledge (2012). Link

Week 14 Risk and uncertainty

04-27-26

  1. M. Sagoff. “Animal liberation and environmental ethics: Bad marriage, quick divorce.” Osgoode Hall Law Journal 22 (1984), pp. 297–307. Link

04-29-26

  1. K. Elliott. “What if we are uncertain?” In: A Tapestry of Values. Oxford University Press, 2017. Chap. 5. Link

Week 15

05-04-26
05-06-26

Week 16

05-11-26