ENV 395 - Special Topics in Environmental Ethics

Credits: 3
Planned Offering: Winter, Spring

This course explores areas of topical concern within the field of environmental ethics. The issues explored may vary from year to year. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

Fall 2012 topic:

ENV 395: Special Topics in Environmental Ethics: Economics, Ecology and Ethics in Environmental Policy (3). No prerequisite. This course focuses on the values that shape environmental decisions. Public policy seeks to maximize social utility. In economic terms this means allocating resources so as to maximize the satisfaction of individual preferences. However, our policy decisions regarding the environment also pursue certain ecological goals, such as the preservation of biodiversity and the maintenance of healthy and functioning ecosystems. In addition, environmental policy is constrained by ethical concerns such as the pursuit of environmental justice and our responsibilities to future generations. This course addresses such questions as: To what degree are these three kinds of policy goals in tension with one another? How can we clarify our thinking about these policy goals so as to harmonize them where possible and reasonably negotiate the tradeoffs when they come into conflict? Cooper.