Module PHL2119 for 2024/5
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
PHL2119: Animal Minds and Animal Ethics
This module descriptor refers to the 2024/5 academic year.
Module Aims
In this module, we will engage in the most important debates around the mental and cognitive capacities of non-human animals and their ethical consequences. We will examine how traditional philosophical questions about the nature of consciousness, rationality, and moral norms apply to non-human animals. To conduct this examination, we will also rely on empirical studies from different sciences, in particular primatology. Hence, this module is highly interdisciplinary and enables students to gain comprehensive knowledge about the empirical and conceptual problems around animal minds. Students will learn to assess positions and arguments in this debate, connecting this debate with ethical issues on animal rights. Moreover, students will develop the ability to apply their knowledge to current affairs (e.g., policies on animal rights), to conduct responsible research, among other valuable skills for future employment.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. Identify and discuss key issues in the contemporary debate around the nature of animal minds and their ethical implications 2. Distinguish and evaluate the central positions and arguments concerning the nature of animal minds and their ethical implications 3. Articulate the connection between positions in animal minds and animal ethics |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 4. Demonstrate a good understanding of philosophical distinctions, concepts, and how they apply to real-world cases 5. Demonstrate competency in evaluating philosophical positions, arguments, and methods |
| Personal and Key Skills | 6. Demonstrate clear and concise writing 7. Demonstrate competency in integrating, synthesizing, and applying new knowledge 8. Engage in independent research, within a limited time frame, to develop positions and arguments |
