HS-200 : Environmental Studies Environmental Philosophy Module LECTURE OUTLINE Lecture 1
An Introduction to Environmental Philosophy Here we discuss (very briefly) philosophy and the philosophical method. We also get an idea regarding the philosophy of nature as such, and the background for the twentieth century environmental philosophy.
Lecture 2
Environmental Philosophy: The Problem This lecture basically is a brief history of ideas. Here we contextualize twentieth century environmental philosophy, by taking stock of the history of thought that led to the contemporary environmental crisis. You can surely expect a critique of modern science. In short, this chapter is a critical overview of history.
Lecture 3
Contemporary Environmental Philosophy: Deep Ecology “Deep ecology” is the best known environmental philosophical idea in the twentieth century. It is a school of thought that emphasizes environmental ethics. Without looking at the environment as intrinsically valuable, deep ecologists argue, we cannot think of conserving the environment.
Lecture 4
The Question of Value in Environmental Ethics Here we dwell a bit more on the idea of “intrinsic value”, the central idea of twentieth century environmental ethics. The discussion centers on a question: in what sense can we say that nature is intrinsically valuable?
Lecture 5
Traditional Indian Philosophy of the Environment The classical Indian schools of thought (Vedanta, Buddhism and Jainism) have gained in interest with the contemporary revival of environmental philosophy. We here look at environmentalism in these systems of thought.
Lecture 6
Martin Heidegger’s Philosophy of the Environment In the west, the phenomenological school of thought is popular in the contemporary rethinking of the environment. We shall here look at one of the best known phenomenologists, the German philosopher Martin Heidegger, and his views on the environment.
Lecture 7
Environmental Philosophy: Conclusion We shall conclude with brief discussions of how other schools of environmental philosophy like social ecology and ecofeminism look at deep ecology. We shall wind up with a route map for looking ahead in matters of environmental philosophy.