Me

1. Introduction To
Environmentalism: A
Philosophical Perspective
Week 1-2

2. Lecturer
Walter Chibisa
Email: wchibisa@iie.ac.za
Office: Building C2.17
Consultation hours:
Wednesdays 12h00 – 13h00
Friday 11h00 – 12h00
Class Representative: Thobeka Gigaba

3. Unit schedule
Academic Week 1-2:
1. Key concepts in Environmentalism
2. Value Reasoning
3. The Problem of Anthropocentrism
Academic Week 3-6:
1. Deep Ecology
2. Environmentalism in Modern and
Enlightenment Philosophy
3. Environmentalism in Ancient,
Medieval and Eastern Philosophies
Academic Week 7-9:
1. Can Anthropocentrism be
Overcome?
2. Animal Rights
3. Biocentric notions of Value
Academic Week 10-12:
1. Climate Science and Climate
Scepticism
2. Political and Financial Challenges to
Addressing Climate Change
3. Ethical and Philosophical Principles
of adopting a ‘Green Lifestyle’
4. Moral Obligations to Future
Generations

4. Assessment Schedule

6. Environmentalism
• Environmentalism: the political and ethical movement which seeks to
improve and protect the natural environment.
• But how does environmentalism as a movement become political or ethical?
• What are environmental ethics?

7. Environmental Ethics
• Environmental ethics: studies the conceptual foundations of
environmental values, attitudes, actions and policies of society to
improve and protect the natural environment, i.e biodiversity and
ecological systems.

8. Anthropocentrism
Anthropocentrism = an ethical approach that prioritises the value of human beings
Strong anthropocentrism = only human beings are of value, and no non-human
thing is of any intrinsic value
Weak anthropocentrism = human beings have a significantly higher value than any
non-human thing, although some non-human things can be of intrinsic value

9. Anthropocentrism
Q: Are these examples of strong or weak anthropocentrism or neither?
[1] It is wrong to treat animals cruelly, because then we might be tempted to treat human
beings cruelly too
[2] It is right to cull feral animals
[3] It is right to destroy some members of overpopulated indigenous species to protect
the integrity of the ecosystem
[4] It is right to flip the switch so that a runaway trolley headed down a track with 5
people tied up is diverted onto another track instead, where 5 dogs are tied up.
[5] It is right to prioritise saving nature over feeding people
[6] It is important to mitigate climate change for the sake of future generations of
human beings

11. Intrinsic value vs Instrumental value
 Intrinsic Value:
1. Good for its own sake
2. Good in itself: good, period
3. Examples: Happiness,
wellbeing
 Instrumental Value:
1. Good as a means to an end
2. Good for the sake of
something else
3. Good because it enables us to
get something else of value
Examples: Money, tools

13. Who is MIA?, and the significance of
environmentalism/lists on the world stage
Ruslan Strelets
alexander kozlov