IEP 511: Environmental Decision Making

AWAYMAVE - The Distance Mode of MA in Values and the Environment at Lancaster University

Environmental Decision Making

Aims of the Unit

This course explores different answer to the question of what makes for good decisions about t the environment. It will cover a number of issues in ethics, political philosophy and the philosophy of economics:

• Introduce some of the main economic approaches to decision making about the environment in theory and practice
• Examine some of the main objections that have been raised about those approaches
• Consider some of the recent deliberative alternatives to economic approaches
• Critically assess the adequacy of these alternatives.

Learning Outcomes

• After taking this module, students should be able to:
• Demonstrate knowledge of some major approaches to environmental decision making
• Critically examine attempts to price to environmental goods
• Understand the theoretical foundations of cost-benefit analysis
• Critically discuss different accounts of justice between and within generations
• Appraise the major different approaches to sustainability
• Assess the compatibility of liberalism and environmentalism
• Consider the theory and practice of deliberative democracy as applied to environmental decisions
• Assess the problems in extending standard accounts of decision making to include the interests of non-humans and future generations.
• Demonstrate ability to analyse and develop arguments
• Develop their own thoughts on what makes for good environmental decision making