Dale Jamieson

Ethics, Public Policy, and Global Warming:

There are many uncertainties concerning climate change, but a rough international consensus has emerged that a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide from its pre-industrial baseline is likely to lead to a 2.5 degree centigrade increase in the earths mean surface temperature by the middle of the next century. Such a warming would have diverse impacts on human activities and would likely be catastrophic for many plants and nonhuman animals. The authors contention is that the problems engendered by the possibility of climate change are not purely scientific but also concern how we ought to live and how humans should relate to each other and to the rest of nature; and these are problems of ethics and politics.

Ethics and intentional climate change

In recent years the idea of geoengineering climate has begun to attract increasing attention. Although there was some discussion of manipulating regional climates throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the discussion was largely dormant. What has reawakened the conversation is the possibility that Earth may be undergoing a greenhouse-induced global warming, and the paucity of serious measures that have been taken to prevent it.In this paper I assess the ethical acceptability of ICC, based on my impressions of the conversation that is now taking place. Rather than offering a dispassionate analysis, I argue for a point of view. I propose a set of conditions that must be satisfied for an ICC project to be morally permissible and conclude that these conditions are not now satisfied. However, research on ICC should go forward so long as certain other conditions are met. I do not intend this to be the last word on the subject, but rather the first word. My hope is that others will be stimulated to think through the ethics of ICC.

Managed Relocation: Integrating the Scientific, Regulatory, and Ethical Challenges

Managed relocation is defined as the movement of species, populations, or genotypes to places outside the areas of their historical distributions to maintain biological diversity or ecosystem functioning with changing climate. It has been claimed that a major extinction event is under way and that climate change is increasing its severity. Projections indicating that climate change may drive substantial losses of biodiversity have compelled some scientists to suggest that traditional management strategies are insufficient. The managed relocation of species is a controversial management response to climate change. The published literature has emphasized biological concerns over difficult ethical, legal, and policy issues. Furthermore, ongoing managed relocation actions lack scientific and societal engagement. Our interdisciplinary team considered ethics, law, policy, ecology, and natural resources management in order to identify the key issues of managed relocation relevant for developing sound policies that support decisions for resource management. We recommend that government agencies develop and adopt best practices for managed relocation.

A companion to environmental philosophy

Well, someone can decide by themselves what they want to do and need to do but sometimes, that kind of person will need some a companion to environmental philosophy references. People with open minded will always try to seek for the new things and information from many sources. On the contrary, people with closed mind will always think that they can do it by their principals. So, what kind of person are you?

Sustainability and beyond

Abstract In this paper I discuss both the limitations and possible uses of the sustainability discourse. I begin by convassing various conceptions of sustainability and sketching some difficulties with the notions that have been introduced. Next some possible uses of the idea of sustainability are identified. I go on to discuss these in the context of disputes over public lands in the United States. Finally I say why we must go beyond sustainability if we are successfully to address the present disorder regarding the human relationship to nature.

Ethics and the environment : an introduction

Preface 1. The environment as an ethical question 2. Human morality 3. Meta-ethics 4. Normative ethics 5. Humans and other animals 6. The value of nature 7. Natures future.

When Utilitarians Should Be Virtue Theorists

The contrast typically made between utilitarianism and virtue theory is overdrawn. Utilitarianism is a universal emulator: it implies that we should lie, cheat, steal, even appropriate Aristotle, when that is what brings about the best outcomes. In some cases and in some worlds it is best for us to focus as precisely as possible on individual acts. In other cases and worlds it is best for us to be concerned with character traits. Global environmental change leads to concerns about character because the best results will be produced by generally uncoupling my behavior from that of others. Thus, in this case and in this world, utilitarians should be virtue theorists.

Readings in animal cognition

Part 1 Perspectives in animal cognition: the myth of anthropomorphism, John Andrew Fisher gendered knowledge? examining influences on scientific and ethological inquiries, Lori Gruen interpretive cognitive ethology, Hugh Wilder concept attribution in nonhuman animals - theoretical and methodological problems in ascribing complex mental processes, Colin Allen and Marc Hauser. Part 2 Cognitive and evolutionary explanations: on aims and methods of cognitive ethology, Dale Jamieson and Marc Bekoff aspects of the cognitive ethology of an injury-feigning bird, the piping plover, Carolyn A. Ristau tradition in animals - field observations and laboratory analyses, Bennett G. Galef, Jr. the study of adaptation, Randy Thornhill the units of behaviour in evolutionary explanations, Mitchell levels of analysis and the functional significance of helping behaviour, Walter D. Koenig and Ronald L. Mumme. Part 3 Recognition, choice, vigilance and play: the uniquitous concept of recognition with special reference to kin, Andrew R. Blaustein and Richard H. Porter do animals choose habitats?, Michael L. Rosenzweig the influence of models on the interpretation of vigilance, Steven L. Lima is there an evolutionary biology of play?, Alexander Rosenberg intentionality, social play and definition, Colin Allen and Marc Bekoff. Part 4 Communication and language: communication and expectations -a social process and the cognitive operation it depends upon and influences, W. John Smith animal communication and social evolution, Michael Philips and Steven N. Austad animal language - methodological and interpretive issues, Sue Savage-Rumbaugh and Karen E. Brakke knowledge acquisition and asymmetry between language comprehension and production - dolphins and apes as general models for animals, Louis M. Herman and Palmer Morrel-Samuels evolution and psychological unity, Roger Crisp the mental lives of nonhuman animals, John Dupre inside the mind of a monkey, Robert Seyfarth and Dorothy Cheney a bat without qualities?, Kathleen A. Akins afterword - ethics and the study of animal cognition, Dale Jamieson and Marc Bekoff.

Climate Change, Responsibility, and Justice

In this paper I make the following claims. In order to see anthropogenic climate change as clearly involving moral wrongs and global injustices, we will have to revise some central concepts in these domains. Moreover, climate change threatens another value (“respect for nature”) that cannot easily be taken up by concerns of global justice or moral responsibility.

Animal Liberation is an Environmental Ethic

I begin by briefly tracing the history of the split between environmental ethics and animal liberation, go on to sketch a theory of value that I think is implicit in animal liberation, and explain how this theory is consistent with strong environmental commitments. I conclude with some observations about problems that remain.