Environmental Ethics & native wisdom

Coming January 2011 (Wtr./Spg. Semester), Middle Tennessee State University-

Philosophy 4800.1, Readings in Philosophy:

Environmental Ethics & native wisdom

The environmental ethics course, covering familiar issues involving climate change, global warming, the ethics of industrial agriculture and food distribution, the vehicles we drive, the homes we build, the waste we generate, the time we waste, the technology some think will save us from ourselves, how we conceive our relation to the rest of nature, and generally just the whole impact we humans have on our planet and biosphere… will add a new dimension next semester: the pre-scientific wisdom of indigenous and native peoples.

We’ll look at what lessons we might learn about living lightly and harmoniously on Earth from native and indigenous peoples—including native American sources, of course, but also imaginative and fictive ones like “Avatar”-- and how those lessons may either complement, challenge, or contradict the dominant western scientific-technological worldview.

TEXTS include:

• Nature's Way: Native Wisdom for Living in Balance with the Earth
• The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning
• Whole Earth Discipline: Why Dense Cities, Nuclear Power, Transgenic Crops, Restored Wildlands, and Geoengineering Are Necessary
• Red Alert!: Saving the Planet with Indigenous Knowledge
• Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence

The class will meet on Mondays and Wednesdays from 12:40 to 2:05 in the James Union Building (Room #202) at MTSU, beginning in January 2011. Watch for details, or contact Dr. James P. Oliver (poliver@mtsu.edu) for further information.