HOME:
(919) 401-4150
SCHOOL: Department of
Philosophy
(336)
278-5699
E-MAIL: <weston@elon.edu>
DEGREES: BA (summa cum laude),
MA
(Philosophy), The
PhD
(Philosophy), The
NOW: Professor of Philosophy and
Environmental Studies
Chair, Department of
Philosophy
PREVIOUS POSITIONS:
Department of Philosophy, State University
of New York, Stony Brook (with joint appointment in the W. A. Harriman School
of Management and Public Policy).
Associate
Professor, with tenure, 1992-1994.
Assistant
Professor, 1985-1992.
Department
of Philosophy,
Visiting Assistant Professor, 1982-1985.
Department
of Philosophy,
Instructor,
1981-1982.
Teaching
Fellow, Department of Philosophy, and Integrated Medical-Premedical Program (Inteflex), The
PUBLICATIONS
BOOKS:
A RULEBOOK FOR ARGUMENTS.
Second edition, 1992.
Third edition, 2001.
Translated into Spanish, Portuguese,
Italian, Greek, Korean, Russian, Japanese, Czech,
and Braille.
TOWARD BETTER PROBLEMS:
New Perspectives on Abortion, Animal Rights, the Environment, and
Justice.
BACK TO EARTH: Tomorrow's Environmentalism.
A
PRACTICAL COMPANION TO ETHICS.
Second edition, 2002.
Third edition, 2005.
Translated into German, Japanese, and
Portuguese.
AN INVITATION TO ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY (editor
and contributor)
A 21st CENTURY ETHICAL TOOLBOX.
Second edition, 2007 (in preparation)
JOBS FOR PHILOSOPHERS.
CREATIVITY FOR CRITICAL THINKERS
CREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING IN ETHICS
THE INCOMPLEAT ECO-PHILOSOPHER: Essays in Environmental Ethics
and Education, 1985-2005.
State
HOW TO RE-IMAGINE THE WORLD: A Pocket Handbook for the
Practical Visionary.
New Society Publishers, forthcoming 2007.
ARTICLES:
"A Pattern for Argument Analysis in
Informal Logic", Teaching Philosophy 5:2 (1982): 135-139.
"The Two Basic Fallacies", Metaphilosophy
15:2 (1984): 148-155.
"Newspeak: The State of the
Art", in R. C. and M. D. Lazar, eds., Beyond 1984 (New York:
Associated Faculty Press, 1984): 44-50.
"Toward the Reconstruction of
Subjectivism: Love as a Paradigm of Values", The Journal of Value
Inquiry 18:3 (1984): 181-194.
"Drawing Lines: The Abortion Perplex
and the Presuppositions of Applied Ethics", Monist 67:4 (1984):
589-604.
"Subjectivism and the Question of
Social Criticism", Metaphilosophy 16:1 (1985): 57-65.
"Technological Unemployment and the
Lifestyle Question", Journal of Social Philosophy XVI:2 (1985): 19-30.
"Beyond Intrinsic Value: Pragmatism
in Environmental Ethics", Environmental Ethics 7:4 (1985):
321-339.
This essay subsequently reprinted in:
- Environmental Pragmatism, edited
by Andrew Light and Eric Katz (Routledge, 1995).
- Environmental Philosophy: Critical
Concepts, edited by J. B. Callicott and Clare Palmer (Routledge,
2004)
"The Socratic Philosopher-Citizen:
Some Reservations", Metaphilosophy 17:4 (1986): 371-378.
"Toward an Inclusive Ethics", Bowling
Green Studies in Applied Philosophy, volume 8: "Values and Moral
Standing" (1986): 36-44.
"Forms of Gaian Ethics", Environmental
Ethics 9:3 (1987): 121-134.
This essay subsequently reprinted in Environmental
Philosophy: Critical Concepts, edited by J. B. Callicott and Clare
Palmer (Routledge, 2004)
"Radio Astronomy as Epistemology:
Some Philosophical Reflections on the Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence", Monist 71:1 (1988): 88-100.
"Ivan Illich and the Radical
Critique of Tools", Research in Philosophy and Technology, volume 9: "Ethics and Technology" (1989): 171-182.
"The Photographic Memory: A Note on
the Commodification of Experience", Journal of Social Philosophy XIX:3
(1989): 3-11.
"Listening to the Earth", Tikkun
5:2 (March/April 1990): 50-54.
This essay subsequently reprinted in
Michael Lerner, ed., Tikkun Anthology (Oakland, CA: Tikkun Books, 1992):
55-59.
"On the Body in Medical Self-Care
and Holistic Medicine", in Drew Leder, ed., The Body in Medical Thought
and Practice (Amsterdam:
Kluwer, 1991): 69-84.
"Uncovering the 'Hidden Curriculum':
A Laboratory Course in Philosophy of Education", APA Newsletter on
Teaching Philosophy 90:2 (Winter 1991): 36-40.
This essay subsequently reprinted as
- "A Liberatory/Laboratory Course in
Philosophy of Education", Resource Paper Series, National Society for
Experiential Education, 1992.
- and in Tziporah Kasachkoff, ed., In
the Socratic Tradition: Essays on Teaching Philosophy (Rowman and
Littlefield, 1998).
"Non-anthropocentrism in a
Thoroughly Anthropocentrized World", The Trumpeter 8:3 (1991):
108-112.
"Toward a Social Critique of
Bioethics", Journal of Social Philosophy 12:2 (1991): 109-118.
"Between Means and Ends",
Monist Special Issue on Intrinsic Value in Nature, vol. 75:2 (1992):
236-249.
"Before Environmental Ethics", Environmental
Ethics 14 (1992): 323-340.
This essay subsequently reprinted in:
- Environmental Ethics: Divergence and
Convergence, edited by Susan Armstrong and Richard Botzler (NY:
McGraw-Hill, 1993).
- People, Penguins, and Plastic Trees:
Basic Issues in Environmental Ethics,
edited by Christine Pierce and Donald Vandeveer (Second edition;
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1994).
- Postmodern Environmental Ethics, edited
by Max Oelschlaeger (Albany: SUNY Press,
1995).
- Environmental Pragmatism, edited
by Andrew Light and Eric Katz (Routledge, 1995).
“Self-Validating Reduction: Toward a
Theory of the Devaluation of Nature”, Environmental Ethics 18 (1996):
115-132.
“Instead of Environmental Education”, Proceedings
of the
This essay subsequently reprinted as
“Deschooling Environmental Education” in Canadian Journal of Environmental
Education I (1996).
“Is It Too Late?”, in
“Universal Consideration as an Originary
Practice”, Environmental Ethics 20 (1998): 279-289.
“Risking Philosophy of Education”, Metaphilosophy
29 (1998): 145-158.
“Environmental Ethics as Environmental
Etiquette: Toward an Ethics-Based Epistemology in Environmental Philosophy”
(co-written with Jim Cheney), Environmental Ethics 21 (1999): 115-134.
This essay subsequently reprinted in Environmental
Ethics: Divergence and Convergence, edited by Susan Armstrong and Richard
Botzler (NY: McGraw-Hill), 3rd edition, 2002.
“Galapagos Stories, or: Evolution,
Creation, and the Odyssey of Species”, Soundings LXXXVI (2003): 375-90.
“What if Teaching Went Wild?” in Scott Fletcher,
editor, Philosophy of Education 2002 (
This essay subsequently revised and reprinted
in
- Canadian Journal of Environmental
Education IX (2004).
- Green Teacher 76 (2005) 8-12 (abridged)
“Multi-Centrism: A Manifesto”, Environmental
Ethics 26 (2004): 25-40.
This essay subsequently reprinted in The
Trumpeter, volume 22:1 (http://trumpeter.athabascau.ca/content/v22.1/7weston.pdf).
“Eco-Philosophy in Space: Intimations of
a Cosmic (Post-)Environmentalism,” under review at Environmental Ethics.
REVIEWS AND SHORT PIECES
Review of Thomas Schwartz, The Art of
Logical Thinking. In Teaching Philosophy 5:1 (1982).
"Medicine by the People", Science
for the People 14:1 (1982).
Review essay: "On Finding an Ethical
Voice: A Response to Sontag and MacIntyre",
Free Inquiry 4:1 (1983).
"A New System for Non-Sexist Family
Names", Coevolution Quarterly 41 (1984).
Review of Michael Taylor, Community, Anarchy, and
Review of Milton Konvitz, ed., The
Legacy of Horace Kallen. In Transactions
of the C.S. Pierce Society XXIV:3 (1988).
Notice of Michael Crowe, The
Extraterrestrial Life Debate: 1750-1900.
In The Quarterly Review of Biology 63:1 (1988).
"Unfair to Swamps: A Reply to
Katz", Environmental Ethics 10:3 (1988).
This reply subsequently reprinted in Environmental
Pragmatism, edited by Andrew Light and Eric Katz (Routledge, 1995).
"Interdisciplinary Teaching and the
Nature of Philosophy", A.P.A. Newsletter on Teaching Philosophy, June
1989.
"Anna Fixx" (case study), in
Michael O'Neill, ed., Ethics in Non-Profit Management: A Collection of Cases
(San Francisco: University of San Franscisco, Institute for Non-profit
Organization Management, 1991).
"On Callicott's Case against
Pluralism", Environmental
Ethics 13:3 (1991).
"Ethics Out of Place", Environmental
and Architectural Phenomenology 3:1 (1992).
Review of Bryan Norton's Toward Unity
Among Environmentalists. In Environmental Ethics 14:3 (1992).
Review of Christopher Stone's The Gnat
is Older Than
Notice of Stephen R. L. Clark’s How to
Think About the Earth. In Ethics 106:3 (1996).
Review of R. Murray Schafer’s The
Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World. In Environmental
Ethics 18:3 (1996).
“To Diversify Teaching, Diversify
Classrooms”, in The Teaching Professor; reprinted from Mind Matters, Elon
College Teaching/Thinking Newsletter, Spring 1996.
Review of Eric Katz, Andrew Light, and
David Rothenberg, eds, Beneath the Surface:
Critical Essays in the Philosophy of Deep Ecology. Environmental
Ethics 23:3 (2001).
Review of Mitchell Thomashow, Bringing
the Biosphere Home. In Environmental Ethics 25:4 (2003).
Review of R. Bruce Hull, Infinite
Nature. Forthcoming in Environmental Ethics (2007).
SELECTED RECENT LECTURES AND COLLOQUIA
“Creative Futures: Radical Imagination at
Work”, Workshop Series for the Graduate School of Education, Lakehead
University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, January 2006.
“Creative Problem-Solving in Ethics,”
Faculty Workshop,
“Materializing Multicentrism”, Lead paper
for Invited Symposium on “Multicentric Materializations”, Australian National
University, Canberra, Australia, July 2004.
Panel participant for “Where is Environmental
Philosophy Going?” National Conference for Students of Sustainability (SOS),
“Projects for Reclaiming the Future:
Practical Creativity and the Millennial Imagination”, Invited Public Lecture,
Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy, Murdoch University, Perth,
Australia, May 2004.
“Where the Wild Things Are”, Invited lecture
for the
“Toward Better Problems: Expanding the
Ethical Toolbox”. Inaugural Preyer Lecture for the
“Toward a Really Practical Ethics”,
Invited guest colloquium for the Ethics and Education Program, Yukon College
(Simon Fraser University extension), Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada, July
2003.
“Two Models of Environmental Education,
or: What if Teaching Went Wild?” Invited plenary session for the International
meeting of the Philosophy of Education Society,
“Toward a Really Practical Ethics”. Paper
for the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy, Annual Meeting,
“A 21st Century Ethical Toolbox”. Public
lecture for the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics,
“Ethics On and Off the Ground”. Talk for
the
“Ethics on the Edge: Reimagining
Environmental Philosophy” and “Deschooling Environmental Education”, invited
lectures for the Center for Environmental Philosophy,
“Rethinking Ethics: Challenges,
Possibilities, Promises”, Keynote Lecture for the Conference on Ethics in the
Workplace, jointly organized by the Department of Philosophy, the John Dewey
Center, and the School of Education at Southern Illinois University,
Carbondale, Illinois, April 2000.
“The Hidden Possibilities of Things”,
Invited Lecture for the Macalester College Community, sponsored by the
Department of Philosophy, October, 1999.
“Ethics and Creative Leadership in the
21st Century”, Invited Lecture for the Leadership Program,
“Breaking the Spell of the Actual”, Lecture
for the
Panelist, “The State of Environmental
Ethics”, Founders’ Day Colloquium, Sponsored by the Ecology Curriculum,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, March 1998.
“Exploring Possibilities, Excavating
Connections”, Workshop led (with Bob Jickling of Yukon College) at the annual
meeting of the North American Association for Environmental Education,
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, August 1997.
“Before Ethics”, Invited talk for the
Science, Technology, and Society lecture series, Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and
“Ethics and Water Issues”, Invited
plenary-session panelist for the NEH National Teleconference on “The Quality of
Life in the Global Environment”, Choices and Challenges Program, Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University, October 1996.
“All Quiet on the Western Front”, Invited
talk for the Peace Studies speaker series, Peace Studies Program,
Invited address, “Instead of
Environmental Education”, Conference on Ethics, Environment, and Education,
RECENT HONORS
Invited Associate Faculty member, Summer
2006, Masters Program in Environmental Education and Communication,
Invited Visiting Scholar in Ecological
Philosophy, Fall Term 2004 (February-June), Institute for Sustainability and
Technology Policy,
Research and Development Sabbatical,
Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in
Teaching (Elon’s top teaching honor, awarded to one faculty member a year),