1) In The Case for Animal Rights, Tom Regan describes holism as “environmental fascism.”
(Fascism can be defined a political philosophy willing to sacrifice individuals for the needs
of the nation.) Holists presumably view individual human beings and animals as part of a
larger whole and they, like any part, can be sacrificed for the good of the ecosystem. Regan
contends the good of a community should never outweigh an individual’s rights. The rights
view “cannot abide” ecological holism as it draws conclusions so radically opposed to the
rights of those who are subjects-of-a-life, and further suggests the protection of organisms
and non-living things who are not rights-bearers. Please write an essay addressing the
following items and using different authors than you do for the other prompt:
a) How would either Arne Naess or Bill Devall and George Sessions respond to Regan?
b) How would either Aldo Leopold or J. Baird Callicott respond to Regan?
c) How would either Harley Cahen or Lilly-Marlene Russow respond to Regan?
d) Of the views you discuss, which one do you most agree with, and why?
2) Read the section “Eco-Interests and Forest Fires” in Lawrence Johnson’s article “Eco-
Interests (pp. 269-271 in Environment Ethics). California is beginning to use more
“controlled burns” (also called prescribed burns) to better manage massive wildfires for
human benefit and to address the problems Johnson identifies. Establishing controlled burns
would mean deliberately setting fire to forests, which would destroy trees and other plant life,
deprive animals and other living organisms of habitat, and kill many of those animals and
organisms. Please write an essay addressing the following items and using different authors
than you do for the other prompt:
a) How would one of the following authors respond to the practice of controlled burns:
Holmes Rolston III or Steven Vogel.
b) How would one of the following authors respond to the practice of controlled burns:
Albert Schweitzer, Paul Taylor, or Jason Kawall.
c) How would one of the following authors respond to the practice of controlled burns:
Arne Naess, Bill Devall and George Sessions, Aldo Leopold, or J. Baird Callicott.
d) Of the views you discuss, which one do you most agree with, and why?
