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Overview

Hundreds of books and thousands of articles contend that humankind is in some way destroying the ecological basis of life. And that if we do not change, the environmental health of the planet and the future of humanity are at risk. With some notable exceptions, most environmental philosophers, however, have proved largely irrelevant to the debate on environmental protection. Why? Does the fault lie with the message or with those who are not listening?

There are, according to Dryzek, four principal ways of thinking about the environment—survivalism, green radicalism, sustainability, and problem solving. All begin with the given of industrialized society, yet differ in how they would change society to limit or eliminate its deleterious effects on the environment:

1. problem solving accepts the status quo and focuses on changes to the current system;
2. survivalism pivots around the ideas of carrying capacity and limits to growth;
3. green radicalism rejects industrial society and promotes a new relationship with the environment;
4. sustainability (examined next week) suggests that we can have development, environmental protection, and generational equity.

Objectives

After completing this week’s readings, web lectures, assignment, and participating in online discussion, students will have an understanding of how we think about the environment and how these viewpoints, with their different interpretations of causality, shape our policy choice in the present and the future.