Thesis -- Departmental honors in Philosophy. / Bibliography: ℓ. 84-88.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, June, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 786-847). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2005. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 157-166). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Education)) - Rhodes University, 2007.

The field of environmental ethics has been in discussion and debate the past 40 years over how to best expand the circle of moral consideration away from a privileged human perspective to encompass the rest of the non-human world in order to change minds and social practices to address environmental degradation and destruction. One of the main methods is devoted to arguing for the intrinsic value of non-human lives and places as the means to do this. I argue that this method of environmental ethics because it, at best, is a lazy framework for moral deliberation that ignores the entangled sociopolitical and environmental complexity of a situation by reducing the answer to a single set of predetermined values and interests which (re)produces and reinforces social and environmental injustice. An environmental pragmatist approach geared towards addressing environmental injustice is a better way of addressing both environmental degradation and social inequalities.

This study focuses on South African Environmefltal policy; in particular its policies regarding hazardous waste. These policies are addressed within the framework of a case study which serves as basis to critically evaluate government environmental policies both past and present. The thesis examines South African environmental policy against the backdrop of competing schools of thought regarding the relationship between growth and development on the one hand and long term environmental security on the other. Development strategies such as Sustainable Development and the government's Growth, Employment and Redistribution as well as philosophies such as Deep Ecology will be discussed. The thesis argues that Non-Governmental Organisations are the holders of a real environmental ethic and thus their role in preventing environmental degradation is of critical importance. Furthermore, it is imperative that this ethic be disseminated across society if South Africa is to successfully pursue sound environmental policies. This argument is pursued by way of a case study, Thor Chemicals: a company responsible for the running of the largest mercury recovery facility in the world. This plant, which operated in Cato Ridge, KwaZulu-Natal, has been the source of much controversy since it was found that many of its employees and ex-employees were suffering from severe mercury poisoning resulting in two fatalities. The company was also involved in the importation of hazardous wastes as well as the pollution of the surrounding environment. Thor is currently the subject of inquiry by the government-appointed Davis Commission. It is pointed out that ill the past South Africa held no real environmental ethic and environmental degradation ensued as a result. The presented thesis argues that, despite assurances to the contrary, the present government is also without a true environmental ethic that will be effective in preventing future degradation.

Desde que as questões relacionadas ao meio ambiente e à ecologia passaram a ganhar a esfera das discussões geopolíticas, o que vem envolvendo os países ricos em debates e acordos de redução nas emissões de produtos poluentes, muito lentamente as igrejas cristãs foram entrando no debate. Atualmente os debates ganharam força definitiva e as políticas de Estado têm buscado a educação e a conscientização ambiental. Pautado nessa reflexão, o presente trabalho de conclusão de mestrado profissional busca tematizar a relevância da questão ecológica e ambiental para a vida da igreja cristã. / Since the issues related to environment and ecology have began to enter in the geopolitical sphere of discussions, that involved the rich countries in discussions and agreements to reduce emissions of pollutants, very slowly Christian churches were entering the debate. Currently the debate gained momentum and final state policies have sought education and environmental awareness. Lined in this discussion, this master work of finding professionals seek to thematize the relevance of ecological and environmental issue for the life of the Christian church.

The relevance of studies on the concepts and visions of nature, ethics, environment and environmental practice developed by students enrolled in courses Full Degree in Education for Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries - PROPED, developed by the Department of Education of the Federal University of Sergipe, in partnership with the National Education Program in Agrarian Reform, the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform and the Movement of Landless Rural Workers, is the main focus of this study. Explain how students interpret the nature, ethics and the environment became the target of this investigation since they are children of rural workers, future professionals of education and also the ones responsible for maintaining a portion of their lots preserved in their benefit as well as the future generations. The methodology used was both qualitative and quantitative by the application of research instruments: questionnaires and semi-structured interviews and then categorized according to the issues regarding to the proposed objectives; being some fragments extracted of narratives considered of major relevance of the interviews on the empirical field. During the investigation process was added to the analysis of the reports of the practice of teaching the subject of environmental problems. We analyzed categories that emerged from the speeches of participants of the research. It was concluded that students have a local view about the environment, and the vision of nature as a whole and the anthropocentric view of environmental ethics to the concept of limited survival. Thus, we propose greater emphasis on ethical training of rural workers, greater commitment of the agencies involved: MST / UFS / INCRA in promoting environmental education practice. / A relevância em se realizar estudos sobre as concepções e visões de natureza, da ética, do meio ambiente e de uma prática ambiental desenvolvidas pelos alunos matriculados no Curso de Licenciatura Plena em Pedagogia para Beneficiários da Reforma Agrária PROPED, desenvolvido pelo Departamento de Educação da Universidade Federal de Sergipe, em parceria com o Programa Nacional de Educação na Reforma Agrária, o Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária e o Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, é o foco principal deste estudo. Explicitar como os alunos interpretam a natureza, a ética e o meio ambiente tornou-se alvo dessa investigação uma vez que os mesmos são filhos de trabalhadores rurais, futuros profissionais da educação e são sujeitos responsáveis por manter uma parte de seus lotes preservados e conservados em benefício das gerações futuras. A metodologia utilizada foi a combinação dos aspectos quantitativos e qualitativos por meio da aplicação de instrumentos de pesquisa: questionários e entrevistas semi-estruturadas; em seguida categorização em conformidade com as questões relativas aos objetivos propostos; sendo extraídos fragmentos das narrativas consideradas de maior relevância das entrevistas realizadas no campo empírico. Durante o processo da investigação foi acrescido à análise dos relatórios da prática de ensino relativos a temática dos problemas ambientais. Foram analisadas categorias que emergiram das falas dos alunos participantes da pesquisa. Conclui-se que os alunos possuem uma visão local acerca de meio ambiente, sendo a visão sobre natureza como um todo antropocêntrica e a visão da ética ambiental limitada ao conceito de sobrevivência. A partir desse estudo fica uma alerta. Não há ainda uma ética ambiental incorporada nos alunos ideologicamente, mas enraizadamente. Existem intenções de mudanças paradigmáticas in lócus do qual propomos maior ênfase na formação ética dos trabalhadores rurais; maior comprometimento dos órgãos envolvidos: MST/UFS/INCRA na promoção de uma Educação Ambiental prática.

The study defines and discusses the concepts relating to ethics, learning process and environment, taken as empirical base the educational professionals of the public school of Garanhuns/PE, aiming to learn the concepts of education professionals in relation to learning ethics related to the environment. This was achieved with the application of questionnaires, which were categorized on the basis of the singularities of the information and fragments of concepts, definitions, strategies and factors promoters of significant learning experiences. In order to this achievement, we obtained as respondents 92 (ninety-two) education professionals that had partaken of courses of specialisations promoted in locus at the University of Pernambuco - Campus Garanhuns. The colected data were analyzed qualitatively based on the description and informal conversations. The arguments presented are essentially natural part of their perception about the environmental issues and their actions in the public school. However, differences are in logical connections between the evidence and interpretation of the respondents. The logical connections are defined in terms of tropes of language: similarity, causal relations, use of metaphor and relations of the representations of the thematic learning ethics. Such connections delimit contexts in which quantities and qualities work as a dynamic part and with prospects of changes of attitudes in relation to significant learning experiences. So, our choices for the trial in relation to fragments presented by education professionals as being essential for the formation of the future citizen, supporting the idea that the evidence presented in this study can be considered as a marker for changes in political-pedagogical projects of public schools in Garanhuns/PE / O estudo discute os conceitos relativos à ética, aprendizagem e meio ambiente, tomando como base empírica os profissionais da educação da escola pública de Garanhuns/PE, objetivando elucidar as concepções dos profissionais da educação em relação à aprendizagem ética relacionada ao meio ambiente. Para alcançarmos tal objetivo, aplicamos questionários, os quais foram categorizados com base nas singularidades das informações e fragmentos dos conceitos, definições, estratégias e fatores promotores de aprendizagens. Para tanto, obtivemos como respondentes noventa e dois profissionais da educação que participaram de cursos de especializações promovidos presencialmente na Universidade de Pernambuco Campus Garanhuns. Em seguida, os dados foram analisados qualitativamente com base na descrição e conversas informais. Os argumentos apresentados são essencialmente singulares a partir das suas concepções sobre as temáticas ambientais e suas ações na escola pública. Contudo, diferenças encontram-se nas ligações lógicas entre a evidência e interpretação dos respondentes. As ligações lógicas são definidas em termos de linguagem baseada nas similaridade, relações de causalidade, uso de metáfora e relações das representações sobre a temática da aprendizagem ética. Tais ligações delimitam contextos que funcionam como parte com perspectivas de mudanças de atitudes em relação a aprendizagem ética de modo significativo. Assim, nossas escolhas para o referido julgamento em relação aos fragmentos apresentados pelos profissionais da educação como sendo essenciais para a formação do futuro cidadão, sustentando a ideia de que as evidências apresentadas nesta pesquisa podem ser consideradas como um sinalizador para mudanças nos Projetos Políticos Pedagógicos das escolas públicas em Garanhuns/PE