The Future of Environmental Philosophy

Our field is in the midst of a reorientation away from the issues and concerns of its first period (1975 through the mid 1990s). There are four areas that I believe should characterize our next steps:

1. 1. Redefining 'philosophy': We should happily stake out a place for environmental philosophers at the border of philosophy, science, and policy. Yes, this means that we will continue to have problems with philosophers who will continue to argue that we are not doing real philosophy. But the way to make progress with these folks is not by struggling to live up to their sense of what constitutes philosophy, but rather by strengthening our ties to scientists and policy makers as philosophers. These groups don't care much about what our erstwhile brethren think of what we are doing; they want to know if we can offer concrete help with the challenges they face. Proceeding in this way, we will gain greater status with these groups, and such status will influence a rebound within the philosophic community.

2. 2.  A policy turn: True, environmental philosophy has always had close ties to empirical matters. This is why the field has often been described—incorrectly, I believe—as a subset of applied ethics. (There's little talk of applied aesthetics). But the empiricism of environmental philosophy has been oriented toward environmental science rather than policy. Even if they lack formal training, environmental philosophers are often familiar with an area of environmental science. An equal appreciation of the intersection of environmental philosophy and public policy is much less common. This needs to be remedied through coursework, internships, collaborative projects, and fieldwork.

3. 3. Philosophical fieldwork: Socrates walked the agora; environmental philosophers should get their feet wet by doing fieldwork. At the University of North Texas (UNT) we are encouraging every graduate student to devote one chapter of their thesis or dissertation to a case study that topicalizes the theoretical points that they are making. The chapter should field test the theory being developed, while also casting light on a scientific or policy issue. This point also underlies the creation of the UNT field station for environmental philosophy (http://phil.unt.edu/chile/).

4. 4. Dual career training: Returning to the theme of (1) above, the best way for us to increase opportunities within environmental philosophy is for us to focus on opportunities outside of environmental philosophy. The National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administraton, , National Park Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and a host of regional and state organizations need help with what they call 'ethics and values' issues tied to environmental questions. We need to make a concerted effort to train our students to work in and with such organizations. If successful, new positions in philosophy departments will be needed to train students to do such work.