Sunday, February 23, 2014

A request.



Due to an injury, I cannot be in class this week.   Might someone take a few brief notes, and send them along, on any insights that may arise from class discussion that are not explicitly contained in text/readings?   Thanks.

2 comments:

  1. I would be more than happy to take some notes and fill you in!

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  2. The notes don't seem as cohesive separate from the class, but this is what I jotted down today--

    Aesthetic value’s relation to ethical value

    Taste often trainable

    Aesthetic as surrogate for the moral — “save the fuzzy things b/c others find them cute”

    Moral philosophers tend to set aesthetics aside as trivial—but we need to sell our ideas.
    - Language of bog/swamp—> “wetlands”
    - Effort towards redemption of bats in the public eye
    _________

    Taylor:

    Life (not sentience) = moral standing

    Kant — moral postulate that humans have equal inherent worth by virtue of being human

    Leaves us hanging. An ethic has to guide behavior. Taylor not offering normative guidance.

    Argues for teleological centers of life (“teleos” greek for “end, goal”)

    We have capacities other animals don’t have, but other animals also have capacities we don’t have—we’re just another specialized creature. This does not confer additional moral duty.

    ____

    We’re leading the way to the 6th (?) great extinction. Last was 65million years ago (dinosaurs)
    80-90% of species could be wiped out by turn of next century

    Evolution less gradual than commonly understood. More of a “punctuated equilibrium”
    ______

    Leopold:

    He might value wildflowers as much as people.

    Exaggerating to reassert a balance, rather than actually advocating serious flower rights.

    ____

    Book mentioned: Peter Barnes: Capitalism 3.0

    Not anti-capitalist, but rethinking it. Society working in three sectors: government, private sector, and non-profit. Barnes introduces the possibility of a fourth: The Commons

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