Module 6 Discussion

Everyone

One reply is due by Thursday (100-350 words, 5 points)

(For your replies this week, in addition to making comments on another student's post, I invite you to go to a footprint calculator such http://www.footprintcalculator.org/ Links to an external site. or https://islandwood.org/footprint-calculator/ Links to an external site. and tell us about your results. Keep a copy or screenshot of your results. I’ll ask you about them again later during the activities.)

Discussion Leaders: 

Answer the prompt below. Then post two replies . 

• Your answer is due by Tuesday (150-400 words, 10 points)
• Two replies are due by Thursday (100-350 words, 5 points each). 

To see which discussions you are leading (and to sign up), go to Collaborations and complete the google document there. 

Discussion Board Grading Criteria

Initial posts and replies earning most or full points will do all or most of the following:

1. Timing
1. Be on time or early so others can reply and engage in conversation.
2. Content
1. Add something new to the conversation
2. Be meaningful and substantial (quality matters, not quantity)*
3. Give complete answers to the Discussion Prompt (for initial posts)
4. State facts that are true. Present accurate description of others’ views
3. Logic & Reasoning-  Includes one of the types of comments listed AND says what kind of comment it is:
   • Clarification question
   • Clarification of someone else's argument or terms (such as an example or story)
   • Reasons to support a claim
   • Objection
   • Response OR
   • Application
4. Tone & Style
1. Use respectful and kind language
2. Clearly explain which part of a post you are replying to (for replies)
3. Acknowledge other people’s ideas
4. Cite sources when you can. (Ideas you get from the reading should mention the reading. Include page numbers if you can, but due to time constraints this isn’t necessary. Ideas you get from an online websearch should mention which pages you visited. Ideas you get from fellow students should mention those students.)

*Ideas on how to make your post meaningful:

• Share your own personal or professional experience to add insight to the conversation
• Describe how the lectures have changed your mind in important ways
• Make connections between several different posts and build on the conversation
• Incorporate a moral framework 
• Incorporate the reading
• Object to claims made in other posts, or respond to objections
• Mention the details of the examples under discussion and explain how these details are relevant
• Connect with material from previous Modules, or other classes you have taken

For more details and grading criteria, see Discussion Board Guidelines for Phil 122 

Prompts 

Choose one Prompt to answer

Prompt A

Paul Hawken offers twelve strategies for sustainability. Pick one of these strategies and explain it. Then give an example of this strategy from your own experience, or from this class. (The example could be from Unit I or Unit II readings, lectures, essay questions, or from the other students’ project proposals, or the plan you analyzed in your project tasks, etc.) Then briefly analyze Hawken’s strategy. What do you think of this strategy? Does it seem anthropocentric or nonanthropocentric to you (provide evidence or reasons)? (Optional: Does it violate any Principles of Environmental Justice?) Do you think following this strategy would lead to sustainability, as Hawken claims?

Prompt B

Gardiner uses the word “storm” metaphorically to mean a big mess that it is hard to get out of. He identifies three storms coming together at once: Global, Intergenerational, and Theoretical. Pick one storm. According to Gardiner, what has caused it? Do you agree?

Prompt C

Heinberg and Lerch list five axioms for sustainability. In a highly controversial move, they intentionally leave out any axioms for environmental justice or “social equity.” Why do they do this? Do you agree with their reasons? Consider one possible objection to their reasons, and consider how they might respond.

 or

Prompt D

“ ... It took Britain half the resources of the planet to achieve its prosperity; how many planets will a country like India require ... ?” - Mahatma Gandhi, when asked if, after independence, India would attain British standards of living.

The famous report “Our Common Future Links to an external site.” from 1987 (also known as the Brundtland Commission's report) defined sustainable development as "development which meets the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." For this prompt, go to a footprint calculator such http://www.footprintcalculator.org/ Links to an external site. or https://islandwood.org/footprint-calculator/# Links to an external site. Calculate your global footprint and report it here. Is your current lifestyle “sustainable” according to the Brundtland definition? Why or why not? What is one thing about your lifestyle that is not sustainable? What are barriers that make it challenging for you to change that thing? (Keep a copy or screenshot of your results. I’ll ask you about them again later during the activities). Note: by applying the definition to a lifestyle rather than “development,” we are using this definition slightly differently from how it was intended for development.)