This assignment will consist of a take-home exam you will receive at the end of the unit. It will cover major concepts in readings and lectures. Questions will call for definitions, short answers, and short essays. Answers should reflect accurate understanding of material, and thoughtful digestion.  Answers must be typed. Proper usage will count in your grade, so edit and proofread your answers.

Answer all 3 parts below, one page apiece. Answers should reflect accurate understanding of material, and thoughtful digestion.  Proper usage will count in your grade, so edit and proofread your answers. Answers must be typed (I encourage the use of reclaimed paper, and judicious use of margin functions and type font to avoid paper waste, but obviously these factors will not affect grading!). Please put your name on each page. Indicate the question you are answering by number. Due: Tuesday, Feb 6, in  class.

Page I. Provide one- or two-sentence definitions or explanations for each of the following items (1 point each):

1. "Worldview" and "metanoia"

2. Leopold's "land ethic"

3. "Cartesian dualism"

4. "Natural rights"

5. Nash's thesis of the "evolution of ethics"

Page II. Provide 100 to 200 word answers to two of the following (2 points each):

6. According to Opie, what is the significance of "Renaissance man" for environmental attitudes?

7. List the three forces of European environmental change does Worster identifies, and give one-sentence explanations of their contributions.

8. White's essay blaming Christianity for environmental crisis has been severely criticized, and not only by offended Christians.  Briefly describe the major weaknesses you identify in it.

9. Use your understanding of contemporary mainstream American cultural codes to analyze and critique the symbolic meanings of humans' relation to nature in the accompanying image.  Discuss specific elements of the image, and their associations, to support your interpretation.

Page III. Choose one question and answer it in 300 words or less.  Your answers will be graded on how well they utilize the course materials (accuracy, relevance, completeness), cogency of reasoning, and effectiveness of writing. (5 points).

10. What has been the role of western science (particularly its cultural foundations, not just its technological products) in the genesis of an environmentally destructive civilization?  Before you answer, consider material on this issue (and alternative explanations) from readings and materials from class.

11. Is Christianity an environmentally destructive religion? Explain your reasoning.  Stronger answers will consider religion in relation to other factors.

12. LaFreniere says we must "infuse political debate with questions of environmental ethics in order that implicitly assumed value systems of citizens be made explicit, thereby opening and expanding public debate concerning the deeper meaning of environmental problems." Do you agree, or not, and why?
 
 

For interest, here are 3 excellent papers from based on readings from a pervious section of the course... This is just for interest, it has nothing to do with the current exam.
Sample paper 1
Sample paper 2
Sample paper 3