Time Schedule:
Monica G. Aufrecht
PHIL 243
Seattle Campus
Focuses on some of the philosophical questions that arise in connection with environmental studies. Topics to be considered include: the ideological roots of current issues, values and the natural world, public policy and risk assessment, intergenerational justice, and social change. Offered: jointly with ENVIR 243.
Class description
The course covers a variety of debates in Europe and North America about our obligations to the environment. We will read authors such as Leopold, Singer, Naess, Elliot, and Light. We will explore philosophical questions such as what it means to have an environmental ethic; how non-human animals should be considered under such an ethic; whether nature is intrinsically, or only instrumentally, valuable; what wilderness is and whether it should be preserved as such; and what our obligations to act might be given limited resources.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
