Module PHIL3221: Philosophy, Climate Change and the Environment

Department: Philosophy

PHIL3221: Philosophy, Climate Change and the Environment

Prerequisites

• At least one Level 2 module in Philosophy OR at least one of the following modules: ANTH2241 Environment, Climate, and the Anthropocene; BIOL2581 Research Skills for Biosciences; BIOL2461 Ecology; GEOG2551 Contested Environments; GEOG2571 Reconstructing Environmental Change; GEOG2631 People and Environment - Pattern and Process; GEOG2661 Climate Change: Geographical Perspectives; GEOL2171 Isotopes & Climate; HIST20P1 Wildlife Conservation in African History; LAW2291 Contemporary Issues in Biolaw.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• This module will help students to identify and address important philosophical and socially-relevant challenges related to environmental issues and climate change and (b) use philosophical methods to work out what should be done in response to those challenges.

Content

• A non-exhaustive list of the topics that might be covered in any particular year:
• prominent approaches to environmental philosophy such as biocentrism, ecocentrism, pragmatism, ecofeminism, deep ecology and eco-capitalism.
• philosophical debates about the meanings of key terms such as ‘nature’, ‘extinction’ and ‘the Anthropocene’.
• debates about the philosophical significance of environmental phenomena (such as climate change, ecosystem degradation, and biodiversity loss).
• debates about the philosophical significance of relevant practices and policies (such as biodiversity offsetting, de-extinction, decarbonisation, forms of land use, methods of food production, conservation practices, and wilderness preservation).
• the interrelation between environmental science, politics and public sentiment, and its impact on public policy and trust.
• philosophical debates about climate and environmental activism, civil disobedience, and solidarity movements.
• philosophical approaches to climate justice, environmental justice, and indigenous environmental philosophy
• philosophical discussions regarding the ethics of hope, despair, and other moral emotions in the context of climate and environmental change.
• interdisciplinary and philosophical approaches to climate and environmental governance challenges in the international, domestic, and sub-state level context.

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the module, students should have knowledge and understanding of:
• the meanings of key subject-specific terms such as ‘biodiversity’ and 'the Anthropocene’;
• some important debates in environmental philosophy;
• some of the connections between those debates and the research conducted in related disciplines such as environmental politics;
• some ways that philosophical methods may be brought to bear on the development and evaluation of environmental practices and policies.

• The module will help students to:
• correctly utilise specialist vocabulary;
• grasp, analyse, evaluate and deploy subject-specific concepts and arguments;
• locate, understand, assess and utilise relevant sources;
• understand some of the relations between environmental philosophy and the research conducted in related disciplines;
• bring philosophical methods to bear on the development and evaluation of environmental policies and practices.

• The module will help students to:
• express themselves clearly, concisely and in an engaging manner;
• comprehend complex ideas, propositions and theories;
• defend their opinions by reasoned argument;
• seek out and identify appropriate sources of evidence and information;
• tackle problems in a creative and clear-sighted fashion;
• work collaboratively;
• understand the relations between the research conducted in different academic disciplines;
• bring philosophical methods to bear upon practical matters.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Structured teaching within seminars will introduce students to the module content and provide a framework for further study. The seminars will give students an opportunity to (a) demonstrate and test their understanding of the module content, (b) defend and debate relevant philosophical positions and approaches, (c) propose alternative positions and approaches, (d) reflect on the relations between environmental philosophy and the research conducted in disciplines such as environmental science and (e) consider how philosophical methods may be brought to bear upon practical problems.
• Guided reading will provide a structure within which students exercise and extend their abilities to make use of available learning resources.
• The group project will help students to (a) enhance their understanding of the module’s content through collaborative work, (b) develop their collaborative skills and (c) present complex issues in a clear, concise and engaging manner. The group presentation will test the extent to which (a), (b) and (c) have been achieved. (Students who are unable to contribute orally to the presentation will be given an opportunity to contribute in other ways – by, for instance, producing accompanying visual aids such as PowerPoint slides and submitting recorded work, etc. Students who are prevented by circumstances beyond their control from attending class on the day of their group’s presentation will be assessed by other means – by, for example, their submitting an individual PowerPoint presentation or an individual report.)
• The summative written assignment will enable students to (a) identify appropriate research sources in the literature of environmental philosophy and related fields, (b) in dialogue with those sources, deepen their understanding of a key issue in environmental philosophy and (c) work out what should be done in response to that issue. It will also test the extent to which (a), (b) and (c) have been achieved.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

None.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University