GV4H5 Half Unit
The Political Philosophy of Environmental Change
This information is for the 2015/16 session.
Teacher responsible
Dr Kai Spiekermann CON.517
Availability
This course is available on the MSc in Environmental Economics and Climate Change, MSc in Philosophy and Public Policy, MSc in Political Theory and Master of Public Administration. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.
Pre-requisites
No formal requirements, but an interest in the formal analysis of political, philosophical and economic questions and a willingness to study contributions from various disciplines, including the natural sciences, is expected.
Course content
This course analyses political and philosophical questions arising in the context of environmental change. The approach will be interdisciplinary. While the focus is on normative-philosophical issues, we will also make use of positive-analytical and empirical literature. Among the topics discussed will be climate change, overpopulation, food and water scarcity, deforestation, desertification and the loss of biodiversity. Some of the questions to be discussed are: How should we balance the interests of current and future generations? How does climate change affect our obligations towards the global poor? How do we make policy decisions if the effects are uncertain but potentially severe? Are we individually or collectively responsible for causing climate change, and what follows from this? How do we relate to the environment and what precisely is valuable about preserving it?
Teaching
10 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the LT.
Week 17 (week 6 of the LT) will be a reading and feedback week.
Formative coursework
Students will be expected to produce 2 essays in the LT.
Indicative reading
Nicholas Stern (2009) A Blueprint for a Safer Planet, London (Bodley Head)
John Broome (2012) Climate Matters: Ethics in a Warming World, New York (W.W. Norton)
Mark Maslin (2004) Global Warming: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford (Oxford University Press)
Stephen Gardiner, Simon Caney, Dale Jamieson and Henry Shue, eds. (2010) Climate Ethics: Essential Readings, Oxford (Oxford University Press)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007 / 2013) Fourth and Fifth Assessment Report, Available at www.ipcc.ch
Dieter Helm and Cameron Hepburn, eds. (2009) The Economics and Politics of Climate Change, Oxford (Oxford University Press)
Robert N. Stavins, ed. (2005) Economics of the Environment, 5th ed. New York (W. W. Norton)
David G. Victor (2011) Breaking the Global Warming Gridlock, Cambridge (Cambridge University Press)
Stephen M. Gardiner (2011) A Perfect Moral Storm: The Ethical Tragedy of Climate Change, Oxford (OUP)
Assessment
Essay (100%, 4000 words).
Key facts
Department: Government
Total students 2014/15: 8
Average class size 2014/15: 6
Controlled access 2014/15: No
Lecture capture used 2014/15: Yes (LT)
Value: Half Unit
Personal development skills
- Leadership
- Self-management
- Team working
- Problem solving
- Application of information skills
- Communication
- Application of numeracy skills