Overview
Thesis-driven Essay (30%). Each student will write a 1000-word thesis-driven essay on a selected topic. Your paper must be typed, double spaced, with one-inch margins, using Times Roman 12pt font. The purpose of a thesis-driven essay is to identify an issue, establish what your stand is on a particular aspect of that issue, and to present a compelling case or argument for it. The essay will draw on course material, demonstrating explicitly that it has been mastered (for instance by correctly deploying vocabulary terms and theoretical concepts). You will analyze how those arguments stand up to critical scrutiny. You will then summarize the central issues and arguments, and take a stand on the central debates as you have defined them. This stance will constitute your thesis which you are required to defend. It is generally NOT recommended that students use the Internet to find secondary sources to help them write their essays.
Each student will write a 1000-word thesis-driven essay on a selected topic. Your paper MUST be typed, double spaced, with one-inch margins, using Times Roman 12pt font. The purpose of a thesis-driven essay is to identify an issue, establish what your stand is on a particular aspect of that issue, and to present a compelling case or argument for it. The essay will draw on course material, demonstrating explicitly that it has been mastered (for instance by correctly deploying vocabulary terms and theoretical concepts). You will analyze how those arguments stand up to critical scrutiny. You will then summarize the central issues and arguments and take a stand on the central debates as you have defined them. This stance will constitute your thesis, which you are required to defend. You only are required to write one essay (not all four) during the semester. You are strongly discouraged from using outside sources when writing your essay. As such, there should be no need for you to include a works cited page. If you insist on citing outside resources, you will be expected to cite any work that isn’t yours using MLA 7th Edition. Be forewarned—the penalty to your grade will be significant if you choose to ignore the plethora of warnings telling you not to cite outside sources and fail to cite them correctly. For all citations of the list of required reading for the course, use the following format: "quoted text" (author(s) last name, page number(s)) [period]. E.g., (Moncrief, 170- 171).
ANSWER ONE ONLY 1. Discuss the relationship between economics and environmental ethics. In particular, examine Baxter’s argument that pollution is just the opposite side of resource use and that what we should be aiming at is not zero pollution but “optimum pollution.” What would be the optimum amount of pollution? Is human benefit the only morally relevant criterion with regard to our behavior toward penguins and sugar pine trees? Then examine Sagoff’s argument that not all political questions are economic. Discuss his distinction between preference and value judgments, which distinguish us as consumers and citizens? Is his characterization of the “schizophrenia” existing between these two categories accurate? Can standard economic analysis incorporate Sagoff’s criticism, arguing that moral-legislative aspects can be taken into account in assessing the total cost-benefits? Whose position—Baxter’s or Sagoff’s—do you find the most compelling on balance? And why?