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PHI-20034 - Module Specification
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Faculty of Business, Law, Humanities & Social Sciences

For academic year: 2026/27 Last Updated: 17 March 2026

PHI-20034 - Environmental Philosophy and Technology
Coordinator: Jonathan Head Room: CBA2.032 Tel: +44 1782 7 33515
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 5
Credits: 30
Study Hours: 300
School Office:

Programme/Approved Electives for 2026/27

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

N/A

Barred Combinations

N/A

Description for 2026/27

This module is about applying philosophy to pressing issues such as environmental degradation and technological progress, particularly Artificial Intelligence. You'll evaluate leading philosophical perspectives on these topics, supported by site visits. Building on skills developed previously, you will tackle a contemporary local challenge set by Stoke City Council, a local business, or a third sector organization. Through vlogs and podcasts, you’ll engage with the community, understand local philosophical challenges, and devise philosophy-led solutions that are presented for external feedback.

Aims
The module aims:
(a) to provide a solid grounding in some of the most important approaches to moral questions in the history of philosophical thought;
(b) to offer students a clear presentation of contemporary ethical issues that can be addressed by these approaches and a good grasp of the differences between ethical schools of thought, with an emphasis on environmental ethics, the philosophy of technology, and related issues;
(c) to enable students to approach moral questions through different ethical conceptual frameworks.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Critically understand the development of significant moral theories in the history of philosophy: 3
Apply different ethical conceptual frameworks and principles to contemporary moral problems by using the standard philosophical techniques of critical analysis and moral evaluation: 2,3
Apply the moral theories studied to identify, present and interpret arguments formulated in the literature and beyond the context of specialised literature, in order to evaluate them: 1,2,3
Communicate information, problems, solutions and critical ideas effectively: 1,2,3
Use texts of primary literature in order to identify key concepts, questions, ideas and arguments, and to evaluate on their basis arguments in the secondary literature: 3
Conduct independent research in order to identify, locate, and retrieve appropriate papers and electronic materials to supplement module reading lists, as well as to develop existing hermeneutic and evaluative skills: 1,2

Study hours

Active Learning:
24 hours attendance at lectures
24 hours attendance at seminars
52 hours independent preparation for the seminars, including reading key sources
Independent Study:
65 hours preparation for the podcast assessment, including guided online training
65 hours preparation for the 'practical application of theory analysis' assignment
70 hours preparation for the poster assessment, including guided online training

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Poster weighted 30%
Poster
A critical exploration of the application of an ethical theory covered in the module to an issue in applied ethics, presented in poster format. The poster will: explain the ethical theory, with reference to relevant literature; discuss the ethical issue in question; provide an examination of the theory's application to the ethical issue, with consideration given to possible objections and defences. The poster should be approximately 1000 words, and include images that support the discussion. The poster will be presented across 4 pages, plus one page of references (not included in the word count). The poster can be formatted as either a Word or PowerPoint document.

2: Group Assessment weighted 30%
Group podcast
Students will be divided into small groups (approx. 3-4) and asked to produce a podcast discussion (plus a detailed plan) of around 8-10 minutes on a particular contemporary moral issue related to the environment and/or global ethics from a philosophical perspective. The podcast discussion and plans will be uploaded by students to the KLE. Groups will be given a mark and then students will be given an individualised mark through a fair peer assessment system, such as WebPA.

3: Assignment weighted 40%
Practical application of theory analysis
Students will write a 2,000 word critical analysis, applying a particular moral approach to a contemporary ethical issue (not covered by the student in other assessments) and evaluating its arguments. Details regarding the specific approaches and topics that can be chosen will be included in the module's KLE space.

The University undertakes a continuous review of its teaching and research provision to ensure programmes are of a high quality and changes may be made to modules where it is necessary and reasonable to do so. Please be aware that minor changes to modules, such as a change to an individual assessment, can occur up until enrolment, although we endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes. Details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/legalgovernancecompliance/governance/actcharterstatutesordinancesandregulations/studenttermsconditions/

Last Updated: 17 March 2026