View Specification DocumentEnvironmental Ethics: right and wrong in the age of climate crisis ADED11257
- Academic Session: 2026-27
- School: Short Courses
- Credits: 10
- Level: Level 1 (SCQF level 7)
- Typically Offered: Summer
- Available to Visiting Students: Yes
- Collaborative Online International Learning: No
- Curriculum For Life: No
Short Description
How should we balance the need to produce cheap food with environmental damage? Should we be using low-cost airlines? Is it now immoral to have children? Should animals be granted the same rights as human beings? The climate crisis gives rise to many daily and long-term moral questions concerning how we should live and behave. This course introduces students to environmental ethics, the branch of philosophy concerned with how our moral values and decisions impact the natural world. Through a series of talks and discussions, this course will grapple with the difficult environmental moral dilemmas we face as humans and encourage students to reflect and consider how we face these challenges.
Timetable
Block 4,
2 hours, 10 weeks
Wednesday, 19:00-21:00
Requirements of Entry
None
Excluded Courses
None
Co-requisites
None
Assessment
Choice of one form of presentation:
■ 5 min recorded oral presentation
■ 500 word written commentary
■ 500 word, 1-page poster (25%).
Essay (1,500 words) (75%).
Course Aims
This course aims to:
■ Introduce students to some of the key debates in environmental ethics
■ Develop students' analytical skills through critical engagement with several key texts and approaches
■ Discuss how they could be applied to 'real-world' dilemmas
Intended Learning Outcomes of Course
By the end of this course students will be able to:
■ Identify and describe some of the key debates in environment ethics
■ Analyse and compare environmental ethical debates with reference to key texts
■ Apply an environmental ethical approach to a 'real-world' dilemma and discuss their findings