Michigan State University Press.
By JACK ARMSTRONG
Capital News Service
LANSING – Ethical questions about how to allocate resources between people and nature rarely face these problems in the Midwest.
But two philosophy professors have addressed this gap in scholarship with a new book, “Environmental Ethics in the Midwest: Interdisciplinary Approaches.”
“So much ink has been spilled, so many reels of film have been used on issues of environmental ethics and values on the West Coast,” said Ian Smith, associate professor of philosophy and religious studies at Washburn University and one of the book's two co-editors.
“Think about everything that's been said about the water issues there and water rights on the East Coast. Not much has been said about the Midwest,” he said.
The Midwest deserves more attention in the environmental ethics literature, said Matt Ferkany, Smith's co-editor and associate professor of philosophy at Michigan State University.
Smith and Ferkany address this hole with a collection of eight essays. Published by MSU Press, the book explores environmental issues from philosophy, chemistry, social science and indigenous perspectives.
The publishers wanted their book to feel grounded. Its foreword notes: “Some of the best works start in the weeds.” Thus, they included contributors from disciplines as diverse as agriculture and urban planning.
Philosophers have a lot to say, but their work is more abstract, Ferkany said.
“To really get on the ground of an ethical issue … you have to have some knowledge from other people, like sociologists or environmental scientists or people who do urban planning, people who do agriculture,” he said.
They encouraged contributors to tackle practical issues with real environmental or social implications, rather than tackling big general or theoretical questions about our relationship with nature. One essay touches on environmental justice in Flint, while another discusses climate education for children.
“Part of that is not just teaching this volume in an environmental ethics course that's in a philosophy department, but teaching this volume in an environmental studies program or an environmental humanities program,” Smith said. “We wanted this volume to be broader and to have a wider audience than ordinary philosophy students.”
Creating a book that presented original scholarship and was both accessible and teachable was a challenge, Smith said.
They pushed contributors to think about their audience, explain more complex terminology or concepts, and write for a class.
This meant that words like “utilitarianism” or “environmental pragmatism” had to be explained, making the chapters longer but the book more accessible.
“I feel really proud of what I think we accomplished, which was toe the line between original scholarship and something that can actually be used in the undergraduate classroom,” Smith said.
Jack Armstrong reports for the Great Lakes Echo.
