Respond: Christian Weisser, Sustainability

Respond: Christian Weisser, Sustainability

RESPOND •

Question 25.1

1. This selection represents an extended definitional argument. Make a list of the definitions, characterizations, and examples Weisser gives of the notion of sustainability, noting the paragraph in which each occurs. (The list may be quite long. Recall that explaining what something is not or how current ways of thinking about something differ from earlier ways of thinking about a related set of topics represents a kind of characterization.)

Question 25.2

2. Take the list you created in response to question 1 and label each of the definitions, characterizations, or examples of sustainability in terms of the kind of definition it represents. (Chapter 9 on arguments of definition discusses kinds of definitions.)

Question 25.3

3. In paragraph 4, Weisser writes that life-sustaining processes need to be or become “cyclical rather than linear.” How, specifically, does he use the extended example of aluminum soda cans in paragraph 5 to illustrate and clarify the contrast between linear and cyclical processes?

Question 25.4

4. Study the Venn diagram that Weisser uses to illustrate the meaning of sustainability. (Slightly different versions of the diagram recur frequently in discussions of sustainability.) How does this diagram help clarify the notion of sustainability? Does it clarify or emphasize aspects of the notion that the written definition does not? How so? How does it help support the distinction Weisser draws between the earlier environmentalist movement and current discussions of sustainability (paragraph 9)?

Question 25.5

5. Using the information in this chapter and other research that you do, write a definitional argument in which you define the concept of sustainability. Obviously, you’ll have to determine which aspects of this concept are most important for you. You’ll also want to spend some time considering why you find these aspects to be the most important. What you learn may become part of your discussion. (If you quote or paraphrase this selection or other sources you consult, be sure to study Chapter 20, Chapter 21, and Chapter 22 which give you practical advice about how to incorporate and document sources correctly.)

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