Annual Philosophy of the Environment Roundtable to Discuss Extinction

Opinions about extinction run the gamut. There is alarm (We are losing species far too rapidly); acceptance (It’s a natural process); blame (Human indifference to the natural order is causing it); and fatalism (Humans may cause it, but human activity is also part of the natural order).

Extinction, the fourth annual Philosophy of the Environment Roundtable, will address this complex subject while helping to clarify thinking about extinction—the death of the last member of a species and what such a loss means to the human species.

The program, which will be held Wednesday, March 23, from 3 to 5:30 p.m. in room 105 of College Hall, features presentations by Associate Professors of Biology David Lampe and Brady Porter as well as by Dr. Will W. Adams, associate professor of psychology. A question-and-answer period will follow their presentations, after which the film The End of the Line, which addresses the devastating effects of overfishing, will be screened.

According to Dr. Jennifer Bates, associate professor of philosophy, the roundtable offers an opportunity to learn about historic extinctions as well as a chance to consider what extinction means for us and for the ecosystems that knit together the web of life.

However, spreading knowledge about extinction, Bates stressed, is not the primary reason to explore such an important subject from the philosophical viewpoint. Her aim and the purpose of the Philosophy of the Environment Roundtable is not to present ideas, but to understand and refine ideas.

Politicians and activists are working to change behavior, Bates explained, but her job is to get people to think before they act so that action will be effective. “We have to think well in order to act effectively, just as we have to eat well in order to be healthy,” she said.

“Whichever side we’re on, whether we think nature is responsible or humans are responsible, I don’t think we have profound thoughts about [extinction],” Bates pointed out. “I don’t think we are properly grasping its extent and its impact on us and on the rest of the planet.”

Scientists predict that half of the species alive today will be extinct by the end of this century. For Dr. Bates, our failure as a society to come to grips with that issue—regardless of who is responsible or the mechanisms involved—is itself a philosophical challenge. “It’s not even clear what thinking is involved in our failure to act,” she said.

Extinction, which is free, is sponsored by the Department of Philosophy with the support of the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts’ National Endowment for the Humanities Endowment Fund. For information, call 412-396-6506.