Jim Tantillo
Lecturer, Natural Resources and the Environment
Jim Tantillo has taught in the Department of Natural Resources since 2001. He teaches courses in environmental history and environmental ethics. He has also served as the Executive Director of the Tompkins County SPCA, CEO of Historic Ithaca and the State Theater of Ithaca, and Executive Director of Orion the Hunters Institute.
Education
B.S. Cornell University 1990; M.S. Cornell University 1994; Ph.D. Cornell University 2002.
Recent Research
Jim is interested in virtue ethics and American pragmatism, and he continues to research and write in the areas of animal ethics and the philosophy and morality of hunting. His research in all of these areas involves questions about the ethics of belief and epistemic responsibility.
Selected Publications
Smith, Christian A., James A. Tantillo, Benjamin Hale, Daniel J. Decker, Ann B. Forstchen, Emily F. Pomeranz, T. Bruce Lauber, Michael V. Schiavone, Kipp Frohlich, Patrick E. Lederle, R. Joseph Benedict, Jeremy Hurst, Richard King, William F. Siemer, Meghan S. Baumer. 2024. “A Practical Framework for Ethics Assessment in Wildlife Management Decision‐Making.” Journal of Wildlife Management, 88(1, January): https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.22502
Tantillo, James A. 2017. “A Damnable Pleasure: Sport Hunting as Tragic Play.” God, Nimrod, and the World: Exploring Christian Perspectives on Sport Hunting, eds. Bracy V. Hill III and John B. White. Sports and Religion Series, series editor Joseph L. Price (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press), pp. 376-393.
Lauber, T. Bruce, Barbara A. Knuth, James A. Tantillo, and Paul D. Curtis. 2007. “The Role of Ethical Judgments Related to Wildlife Fertility Control.” Society and Natural Resources, 20 (2): 119-133.
Baer, Richard A., Jr., James A. Tantillo, Gregory E. Hitzhusen, Karl E. Johnson, and James R. Skillen. 2006. “From Delight to Wisdom: 30 Years of Teaching Environmental Ethics at Cornell.” Teaching Environmental Ethics, ed. Clare Palmer (Boston: Brill), 148-159.
Tantillo, James A. 2006. “Killing Cats and Killing Birds: An Overview of Philosophical Issues Involving Feral Cats and Wildlife.” Consultations in Feline Internal Medicine, Fifth Edition, ed. John R. August (Philadelphia: Elsevier), 701-708.
Tantillo, James A. 2001. “Sport Hunting, Eudaimonia, and Tragic Wisdom.” Philosophy in the Contemporary World 8 (2): 101-112.
Courses Taught
NTRES 2320 Nature and Culture; NTRES 3320 Introduction to Ethics and Environment; NTRES 4330 Applied Environmental Philosophy
Contact Information
Fernow Hall G22
Ithaca, NY 14853
jat4 [at] cornell.edu