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Syllabus: Environmental Ethics
About this class
Ethical questions related to the human interaction with the environment are currently discussed under the heading of ‘environmental ethics’. This is a branch of applied ethics. The guiding ideal of sustainability is a normative one, and fundamental questions such as, ‘Who or what counts as a resource?’, ‘Whom should we take into account in our moral considerations?’ and ‘What is a fair distribution of resources within and across generations?’ are normative questions. In this class, students will be introduced to environmental ethics, the field of application of ethics that systematically addresses these questions.
By the end of this class, a successful student will be able to:
–Explain what ethics is and what value theory, normative ethics and metaethics are about.
–Identify core questions and concepts of the field of value theory and apply them to environmental ethics.
–Identify core questions and concepts of the field of normative ethics and apply them to environmental ethics.
–Defend his or her own position with regard to central issues in environmental ethics.
Language: The readings will be in English. The class will be also conducted in English. Papers should be written in English if possible.
Assignments and grading: Details to be announced.
Each week, you will have several readings, listed in the syllabus. You are expected to read these articles carefully and come to the week’s seminar prepared to discuss them. The questions that come with the weekly readings are meant to facilitate this preparation. They will not be marked.
One of the main controversies in environmental ethics concerns our moral duties to nonhuman animals and the rest of nature. This issue will be discussed in the first half of the class. The student is expected to engage with the various positions on this issue and defend his or her own position in a paper. In addition to submitting a written paper, each student will give a 5-minute oral presentation of his or her research during the last week’s class.
The student’s understanding of core notions and arguments that have been discussed in this class will be tested in a brief exam at the end of the term. The exam consists of 5 questions, each of which requires a brief answer of no more than 5 sentences. |
