PHIL 287: Environmental Ethics
PHIL 287: Environmental Ethics
The Generic Catalog Description
The course will look at various philosophical and ethical views on the relationship between humans and the natural world. Topics may include: pollution, animal rights, and natural resources.
PHIL 287: Environmental Ethics
This course will survey the field of Environmental Ethics, which explores our moral obligations (as humans) with respect to the natural environment. Our focus will be on contemporary theoretical investigations of environmental ethics, coupled with practical treatment of environmental issues. In short, we will make use of what we learn via theory to intervene in debates about practical concerns, such as natural restoration, animal welfare, and climate change. In doing so, we will specifically address the following questions: (1) What is Environmental Ethics? (2) Who Counts in an Environmental Ethic? (3) Is Nature Intrinsically Valuable? (4) What Alternatives (to traditional views) Exist? (5) Can and Ought We Restore Nature? (6) What is to Be Done About Climate Change?
This course has both an Ethics and Values (E&V) designation and a Law, Society, and Social Justice (LSSJ) designation for the purposes of major specialization.
PHIL 287: Environmental Ethics
Environmental ethics is the philosophical study of the value of nature (ecosystems, animals, plants), the human-nature relationship, and the ethical issues that arise from these two issues. The central issue has been the question of nature’s value, answers to which range from strongly anthropocentric to strongly non-anthropocentric positions. Anthropocentrism regards humans as either the only or the highest entity of ethical worth (intrinsic value), with the non-human having either less value or only instrumental value. Non-anthropocentrism ascribes strong ethical value to various non-human entities, from individual animals (animal ethics) and living things (biocentrism) to holistic views concerning the moral status of species, ecosystems, and nature as a whole.
We will look at a number of related issues, such as the existence and nature of intrinsic value, animal ethics, the deep ecology/social ecology debate, ecofeminism, and issues in climate change and environmental justice. Before we investigate any of these issues, we will start by looking at the philosophical and historical origins of environmental and anti-environmental thinking. A central question we will discuss is the meaning of the concept of nature itself, which is fraught with controversy. We will also read a good portion of one of the most important books in environmental writing, Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac.
This course has both an Ethics and Values (E&V) designation and a Law, Society, and Social Justice (LSSJ) designation for the purposes of major specialization.
PHIL 287: Environmental Ethics
The Generic Catalog Description
The course will look at various philosophical and ethical views on the relationship between humans and the natural world. Topics may include: pollution, animal rights, and natural resources.
PHIL 287: Environmental Ethics
This course will survey the field of Environmental Ethics, which explores our moral obligations (as humans) with respect to the natural environment. Our focus will be on contemporary theoretical investigations of environmental ethics, coupled with practical treatment of environmental issues. In short, we will make use of what we learn via theory to intervene in debates about practical concerns, such as natural restoration, animal welfare, and climate change. In doing so, we will specifically address the following questions: (1) What is Environmental Ethics? (2) Who Counts in an Environmental Ethic? (3) Is Nature Intrinsically Valuable? (4) What Alternatives (to traditional views) Exist? (5) Can and Ought We Restore Nature? (6) What is to Be Done About Climate Change?
This course has both an Ethics and Values (E&V) designation and a Law, Society, and Social Justice (LSSJ) designation for the purposes of major specialization.
PHIL 287: Environmental Ethics
Environmental ethics is the philosophical study of the value of nature (ecosystems, animals, plants), the human-nature relationship, and the ethical issues that arise from these two issues. The central issue has been the question of nature’s value, answers to which range from strongly anthropocentric to strongly non-anthropocentric positions. Anthropocentrism regards humans as either the only or the highest entity of ethical worth (intrinsic value), with the non-human having either less value or only instrumental value. Non-anthropocentrism ascribes strong ethical value to various non-human entities, from individual animals (animal ethics) and living things (biocentrism) to holistic views concerning the moral status of species, ecosystems, and nature as a whole.
We will look at a number of related issues, such as the existence and nature of intrinsic value, animal ethics, the deep ecology/social ecology debate, ecofeminism, and issues in climate change and environmental justice. Before we investigate any of these issues, we will start by looking at the philosophical and historical origins of environmental and anti-environmental thinking. A central question we will discuss is the meaning of the concept of nature itself, which is fraught with controversy. We will also read a good portion of one of the most important books in environmental writing, Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac.
This course has both an Ethics and Values (E&V) designation and a Law, Society, and Social Justice (LSSJ) designation for the purposes of major specialization.