Week 7: Environmental Ethics and The Giving Tree
[edit] Teaching The Giving Tree
Although The Giving Tree is rich in its philosophical topics, we will be focusing on issues in environmental philosophy. The basic question that we want the children to discuss is whether there is a correct mode of relationship to nature that human beings should adopt and, if so, what it is.
The phenomenon of global warming has brought the significance of environmental issues to the fore. Many scientists are warning that, unless something is done about our consumption of the earth’s resources, human life on the planet may be threatened, not so speak of the situation for all biological diversity. The Giving Tree raises these issues by means of its story of the different ways in which the boy relates to the tree as he grows old.
Historically, Western civilization has been dominated by the assumption that the world and all its creatures are simply there for humans to use as they see fit. Beginning with Genesis’s account of creation, this view had been the nearly universal assumption. An alternative religious tradition, however, sees everything as God’s creation, so that each existing thing has an equal right to exist. On this view, humans need to take account of those rights, as well as their own needs and desires.
With the rise of technology and the concomitant increase in human population, many have rethought the validity of the traditional account. As opposed to humans being the “lords” of the world, an alternative account sees humans as “stewards” whose responsibility it is to care for those things over which it has stewardship. On this view, the world is not ours to do with as we will, but something that we have been given and have to care for.
These, then, are the fundamental philosophical viewpoints we will be seeking to get the children to discuss. At one extreme, there is the view that humans have the right to do to any nonhuman thing whatever they wish; at the other, the view that human needs are desires are but one factor in an overall situation in which the rights of many nonhuman entities have equal weight. Between these two positions, there are many less extreme views that most people find more attractive.
Discussing The Giving Tree
As spelled out in Big Ideas, a good place to begin your discussion of the book is with a chart that shows how the relationship between the boy and the tree evolved over time. (See the chart handout.) The idea is to get the children to understand that there has been a clear evolution in how the boy treats the tree as he ages. Although the changes are not all in the same “direction,” it is important for them to have a grasp of all the stages. So you should have them fill out the spaces in the chart. Once you have gotten them to say what took place, it’s time to get them to explain their reactions to what the boy did.
Here, the issue is what sorts of relationships between the boy and the tree seem morally legitimate and which not. For the most part, the extremes seem clear to most children: It’s fine for the boy to swing on the tree but wrong for him to take its trunk for his boat. The question is how one can legitimate such moral distinctions. The children will have to think about where they stand on our use of natural things to suit our own purposes.
You should consider moving the discussion away from the specifics of the book at some point and asking the children to consider more general environmental issues. Vegetarianism is a good one. Some of the children may be vegetarians, but even they will think it is fine to eat vegetables. How do they justify that? On the other hand, those who think it’s wrong to harm the tree may be completely comfortable eating meat. Does that make sense? Another issue that is directly related to the story is our use of natural resources like oil and various minerals. These are ones that can’t be reproduced, at least not quickly, so how do we justify our continued consumption of them?
The Giving Tree can give rise to exciting philosophical discussions among the children. It is easy to comprehend and the questions it raises are pretty self-evident. You just need to make sure that they understand the significance of the story – the chart is very helpful with that – and they will be eager to discuss their views.
