Module 1 Natural resources

Week 1 Evaluating moral arguments

08-25-25

• No required readings

08-27-25

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

Week 2 Values

09-01-25*

• No class

09-03-25

1. C. Anderson. “The End of Theory: The Data Deluge Makes the Scientific Method Obsolete.” Wired (2008). Link

2. K. Elliott. A Tapestry of Values (Excerpts). Oxford University Press, 2017. Link

Week 3 Prophets versus wizards

09-08-25

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

09-10-25

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

Week 4 The commons

09-15-25

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

09-17-25

1. M. Ridley. “Ecology as Religion.” In: The Origins of Virtue. Penguin UK, 1997. Link

Week 5 Prices

09-22-25

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

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

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

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

5. Optional: M. Friedman and R. Friedman. “The Power of the Market.” In: Free to Choose: A Personal Statement. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1990. Link

09-24-25

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

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

3. E. Rosenthal and A. Lehren. “Profits on Carbon Credits Drive Output of a Harmful Gas.” The New York Times (2012). Link

4. Optional: D. Arnold and K. Bustos. “Business, ethics, and global climate change.” Business & Professional Ethics Journal 24 (2005), pp. 103–130. Link

Week 6 Ownership

09-29-25

1. H. Baetjer. “Free Market Incentives Foster Service to Others.” In: Free Our Markets. Jane Philip Publications, 2013. Link

2. M. Heller and J. Salzman. “How the Salvation of New York City Drinking Water Can Be a Model for Saving the Planet.” LitHub (2021). Link

3. Optional: E. Stokstad. “Deep deficit.” Science (2020). Link

10-01-25

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

Week 7

10-06-25

• No required readings (review)

10-08-25

1. Exam #1

Module 2 Expanding the moral circle

Week 8 What is wrong with inequality?

10-13-25

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

10-15-25

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

Week 9 Global poverty

10-20-25

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

10-22-25

1. K. Simler and R. Hanson. “Charity.” In: The Elephant in the Brain. Oxford University Press, 2017. Link

Week 10 Sustainable growth

10-27-25

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

10-29-25

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

Week 11 Animal welfare

11-03-25

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

11-05-25

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

Week 12 Ecosystems

11-10-25

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

11-12-25

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

Week 13

11-17-25

1. N. Hettinger and B. Throop. “Refocusing ecocentrism.” Environmental Ethics 21 (1999). Link

11-19-25

1. TBA

Week 14 Risk and uncertainty

11-24-25

1. Daniel Kahneman. “The Characters of the Story.” In: Thinking, Fast and Slow. New York: New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011. Link

2. Daniel Kahneman. “Availability, Emotion, and Risk.” In: Thinking, Fast and Slow. New York: New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011. Link

11-26-25*

• No class

Week 15 The precautionary principle

12-01-25

1. M. Pollan. “Precautionary Principle.” The New York Times (2001). Link

2. A. Stirling. “Why the precautionary principle matters.” The Guardian (2013). Link

3. T. Brown. “The precautionary principle is a blunt instrument.” The Guardian (2013). Link

12-03-25

• No required readings (review)

Week 16

12-08-25

• Exam # 2