Module description
This module will examine a variety of political and ethical issues arising out of humankind's interactions with the environment in the contemporary world. Humanity is rapidly changing the world we live in, raising the planet's overall temperature, destroying huge swathes of habitat, and killing off species at a startling rate.
This sort of relationship between humankind and the world raises a number of difficult philosophical questions, including: How are we to balance the competing claims of human well-being and various different sorts of non-human and environmental well-being? Do certain sorts of stable environmental systems have intrinsic worth, or are they valuable only in virtue of their being conducive to humankind's continuance and prosperity? Can the need for massive reduction in carbon emissions to maintain a relatively stable environment justify the sorts of drastic political measures that would probably be necessary to succeed in making such reductions in the developed world? Do non-human animals have rights or other sorts of moral claims on us? How should we, as individuals, shift our behaviour in response to the sorts of things that we, together, ought to do in order to reduce environmental degradation and non-human animal suffering?
The module will approach these questions by examining a range of relevant philosophical and scientific work, including both contemporary and historical philosophical perspectives.
Assessment details
Formative assessment: 1 x 2,000-word essay
Summative assessment: 1 x 2-hour exam (100%) in Assessment Period 2
Semester 1-only study abroad students are required to submit a 1 x 2,500 word essay (100%) as an alternative assessment to the in-person exam.
Full year study abroad students are required to sit the exam in Assessment Period 2.
Learning outcomes
Students will acquire intellectual, transferrable, and practical skills appropriate to a level 5 module. In particular, they will have acquired:
- Competence in thinking through and discussing a politically and ethically charged topic.
- A capacity for critically reflecting on contentious issues.
- Practice in using reason and analytical skills to reflect on the available empirical data in order to come to a better understanding of a complex ethical issue.
- The ability to explain complex concepts in plain English.
- Writing and group presentation skills when dealing with conceptually complex material.
Teaching pattern
One one-hour weekly lecture and one one-hour weekly seminar over ten weeks.