Year of Award
2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
Master of Arts (MA)
Degree Name
Philosophy
Other Degree Name/Area of Focus
Women, Gender, Sexuality, & Disabilities Studies
Department or School/College
Department of Philosophy
Committee Chair
Deborah Slicer
Commitee Members
Christopher Preston, Elizabeth Hubble
Keywords
feminist philosophy, experience, rationalism, body, gender, strategic essentialism
Publisher
University of Montana
Subject Categories
Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Philosophy
Abstract
Through this project, I demonstrate how professional environmental ethics is constrained by, what I call, a rationalist bias and I offer a different approach to environmental questions in the face of this observation. Intellectual life depends on material conditions and our necessary physical ties to Earth. I suggest that an emphasis on our physical connections with the planet can benefit professional environmental ethics. I draw from some feminist understandings to discuss the advantages of a professional environmental ethics that respects and integrates experiences outside of rational deliberation. I attempt to bring my discussion of experience, environmental ethics, and some feminist strategies into the real world by looking for these themes in the practices of the Environmental Health Movement and a local organization. I explain how these examples might hold lessons for professional environmental ethics in terms of adapting practices which incorporate extra-rational experience into ethical thinking. A significant overarching goal of this project is to gesture at the importance of diversity in doing good philosophical work.
Recommended Citation
Bovinette, Christina, "Better Talking Heads: Concerning Fuller "Experience" in Environmental Philosophy" (2016). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 10804.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/10804
© Copyright 2016 Christina Bovinette