Environmental Ethics - PHIL2420

Aims to familiarise students with both the content and the processes involved in ethical decision-making in issues concerning the natural environment. Begins with an enquiry into basic concepts operative in discussions in environmental ethics such as 'value', 'nature', 'natural' and 'environment'. There is also an examination of various approaches to environmental debates including applied ethics, deep ecology, holism and ecofeminism. Students are encouraged to consider arguments arising from different value commitments and to understand the importance of, and the procedures associated with, the justification of a particular position.