PHL 246 - Environmental Philosophy

Course unit(s): 1
Meets GAR (students beginning prior to Fall 2024): Meets general academic requirement HU and DE.
Meets Explore Core requirement (students beginning Fall 2024 and later): MV
Examination of several theoretical approaches to the question of human relations with the nonhuman world and to associated questions about valuation, society, and morality. Theoretical approaches include utilitarianism, Kantianism, and right-based moralities, along with contemporary developments such as biocentrism, critical social theory, ecofeminism, and deep ecology. Attention will be given to global South, non-Western, and transnational perspectives. Applied topics include sustainability and our responsibilities to future generations, population ethics and consumerism, environmental racism and indigenous rights, the moral considerability of animals, plants, and inanimate material, and moral issues surrounding climate change.