Today we’re talking with Dr. Kate Brelje, an environmental philosopher and professor at James Madison University. Kate's current research is rooted in feminist philosophy and environmental ethics with a focus on care ethics and plant life. 

For some of us plants aren’t the first thing that comes to mind when we’re asked about ethical decision-making or our own moral perception. Dr. Brelje’s research offers us all a chance to reconsider our relationship with the more-than-human world by considering our experiences with the plants we encounter.

If you have ever enjoyed a plant, consumed a vegetable, or walked through a forest just for fun, this episode is for you.

Read Dr. Brelje

https://www.pdcnet.org/eip/content/eip_2023_0999_5_24_16

https://www.jmu.edu/philrel/people/brelje-katherine.shtml

Steven David Johnson is an award winning conservation photographer and Professor of Visual and Communication Arts at EMU in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. His photography of the natural world has appeared in Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Nature Conservancy Magazine, Ranger Rick, Virginia Wildlife, Biographic, Orion, National Science Teachers Association Press books, and numerous conservation publications and journals. 

Resources:  

Martin Buber “I and Thou” 

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/buber/ 

Mammal biomass stats: 

https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/17788/how-much-of-earths-biomass-is-affected-by-humans/  

On phones, social media and evolution: 

Why is My Phone So Addictive?  

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/your-neurochemical-self/201709/why-is-my-phone-so-addictive 

Laura Marris - The Age of Loneliness  

https://www.graywolfpress.org/books/age-loneliness 

Ed Yong - An Immense World 

https://edyong.me/an-immense-world 

Robin Wall Kimmerer  on the Language of Animacy 

https://orionmagazine.org/article/robin-wall-kimmerer-language-animacy/ 

Thomas Nagel - What Is It Like to Be a Bat 

https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Nagel_Bat.pdf 

Photos: 

Photo of hatching spotted salamander 

https://www.stevendavidjohnson.com/portfolio/vernalpools?itemId=9w5tm5s1x99vvarfklmgz6n764v30c 

Photos of encounters with river otters 

https://www.stevendavidjohnson.com/riverine/otter 

Project ceti 

https://www.projectceti.org 

NYU MOTH project 

https://mothrights.org/ 

More than Human Rights: An Ecology of Law, Thought and Narrative for Earthly Flourishing 

https://mothrights.org/more-than-human-rights-an-ecology-of-law-thought-and-narrative-for-earthly-flourishing/ 

Roger Payne whale song story found in Tom Mustill’s book - How to Speak Whale 

https://www.tommustill.com/how-to-speak-whale 

David Abram - The Spell of the Sensuous 

https://www.davidabram.org/books 

Mike Hayslett, Virginia Vernal Pools expert

Steven David Johnson Conservation Photography  

stevendavidjohnson.com 

Conservation Photography at EMU 

https://emu.edu/vaca/conservation-photography 

Shenandoah Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society 

https://vnps.org/shenandoah/ 

Homegrown National Park 

https://homegrownnationalpark.org 

Virginia Wilderness Committee and Shenandoah Mountain National Scenic Area 

https://www.vawilderness.org/shenandoah-mountain.html 

In this episode, you’ll meet the Ethical Reasoning Educators: A group of student volunteers with experience using JMU’s original ethical reasoning strategy, the Eight Key Questions.