Essay Two - Monism v. Pluralism and Environmental Pragmatism Due Feb. 20 th by 5 PM via email.
Requirements
Each student will write a rougly three page essay.
This essay is due via email attachment by 5 PM on Friday, Feb. 20th. The
essay must be in MS Word 2007 or below or WordPerfect 12 or below or pdf. I often cannot open Microsoft Works or other files. You should send with a return receipt or ask me to reply to
make sure I have received the attachment.
1. Your essay should be word-processed, double-spaced,
one-inch to one and one-half inch margins. It should be spell-checked and grammar-checked.
Pages Numbered. Font no smaller than 12 point.
2. You should have a cover page with title, date,
prompt, class and section, and your name.
3. Number each paragraph.
Bold your thesis. After the end of the essay, attach an OUTLINE
of the essay with the thesis clearly stated and at minimum a line for each paragraph.
4. Each essay should be approximately three pages
long (not including the title page or Works Consulted page).
5. You must include a Works Consulted/Cited Page
and/or Complete Footnotes/Endnotes. You may use MLA, Turabian, Harvard, or
University of Chicago in-text, footnote, or endnote styles. APA
is OK, provided you add page numbers to it. CAREFUL
AND CORRECT CITATION IS REQUIRED. WHEN IN
DOUBT, CITE. Remember that simply paraphrasing or changing every third word is
not OK. Quote and cite or radically summarize and cite. Use quotation marks when quoting
or indent if quote is five lines or longer. Guessing at where your information comes from
is not OK. Use page numbers in your in-text citations, footnotes or endnotes. Book or
journal titles are italicized or underlined. You need not consult
any other sources than what we have read for class. Those sources and any other
sources you consult must be included in your Works Consulted/Cited and cited in-text or in
footnotes/endnotes.
6. Your essay should define
any key terms used, use examples to illustrate and support
your thesis where appropriate, and discuss likely alternatives or
respond to possible objections.
Please consult the Essay
Grading/Proofreading Rubric for further details.
Choose One of the following prompts
(questions/topics) to write about:
1. Pick some
argument or issue in the assigned readings on Monism v. Pluralism and Environmental
Pragmatism. As per O'Rourke, "you should devote the first half of the essay to
reconstruction of the argument or issue you focus on and the second half to your comment.
This comment can be critical in nature, but it need not be. For example, if you focus on
an argument that you find compelling, you could devote the comment to consideration of the
argument’s implications. " The reading questions or discussion questions
for the readings may peak your curiosity, get your dander up, or simply point you to some
interesting arguments and issues.
2. Discuss one point on which Callicott and Light
agree on monism and pluralism and one point on which they disagree. Be sure to define any key terms used and make
reference to their texts.
3. Do you
consider the monism/pluralism debate as a key debate for ethics in general (in addition to
a key debate for environmental ethics)? Why
or why not? If yes, where have you seen this
popping up? Be sure to define key terms and illustrate with examples.
4. Where do
you come down in the debate between monism and pluralism in environmental ethics?
Why? Obviously in a short essay, you will not be comprehensive, but outline one or
two key points of your position. Be sure to
define any key terms used and make reference to the texts.
5. On p. 113
Callicott writes: “Here finally is the crux of what I think is wrong with moral
pluralism. It severs ethical theory from moral philosophy, from the metaphysical
foundations in which ethical theory is, whether we are conscious of it or not, grounded.”
Callicott also writes on p. 115, “Moral pluralism, in short, implies
metaphysical musical chairs.” Unpack these statements.
6. How does Light's take on pluralism move
in the direction of the sort of pragmatism discussed either by Weston or Minteer and
Manning.