PHIL 3020

(formerly 2030) This course explores the contours of contemporary environmental thought. Emphasis is on critically understanding historical, cultural and ideological diversity Topics include: how humans perceive and gain knowledge of nature, conceptual issues with uses of 'nature'; ecological identity; environmental movements; Indigenous knowledge systems and relations to the land; social, global and intergenerational environmental justice; spirituality and nature; sustainability and consumption; the privatization of environmental morality; place, art and environmental education; the diversity of human perspectives on the value of nature; why we humans, as a whole, have degraded the ecosystems that support our very existence, and what we can do about it. Lectures: Three hours a week