Environmental ethics is concerned with relations between humanity and the rest of the natural world. In this paper we emphasise the practical value of ethics as a tool for understanding environmental problems and making better decisions. Topics include conservation, resource allocation and use, population issues, climate change, and treatment of animals. These topics raise conceptual questions about the value of nature and the foundations of environmental ethics, including animal liberation, instrumental and intrinsic value, ecofeminism, religious-based ethics and Māori ethics.

Within the broader ambit of environmental ethics, this paper will specifically consider environmental ethics relevant to New Zealand, including the interaction of ethical theories and practice with our social, legal and political institutions. Effective implementation of our environmental goals involves choices and decisions about the management of natural and physical resources and provision for social, cultural, and economic factors. The ideologies of related legal frameworks will be examined and ethical dimensions of choices to be made explored.

The paper will run between Wednesday 4th January 2023 and Friday 17th February 2023. Because the summer semester is short, it is important to start doing the readings and participating in the Moodle forums right at the beginning of the course so as not to fall behind.

This is a NET based paper. All required material will be made available through moodle.

Please note that this course is *not* self-paced. There will be new material to complete each week, and you will be expected to be available throughout the course.