"Philosophy of Science" and "Climate Change Ethics"

This fall, Morehouse’s Philosophy program is offering these two elective philosophy courses –Philosophy of Science and Climate Change Ethics – in addition to Introduction to Philosophy, Introduction to Ethics, Critical Thinking, and Ancient and Medieval Philosophy. 

Please share information about these courses, particularly these electives. Thank you! 

See below the fold for details and flyers!

​​​PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE 

PHIL 315, CRN 48950 

DR. DAN PETERSON, FALL 2020 

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In this course, we will consider fundamental questions in the philosophy of science, including:  

• What is it that makes the natural sciences different from other disciplines?  
• How do the natural sciences explain things, and how different are these explanations from those we find elsewhere in the world? 
•  How do fundamental scientific concepts like laws of nature and causation work? 
•  How confident should we be that our best scientific theories today are literally true?  
• How is it that scientific models with false assumptions end up still describing and explaining the world around us?  

Students will engage critically with philosophical and scientific works as we seek to answer these questions and more. One introductory philosophy course is required as a prerequisite; a background or strong interest in at least one science is helpful but not a prerequisite. 

TO LEARN MORE, PLEASE CONTACT DR. PETERSON AT DANIEL.PETERSON@MOREHOUSE.EDU  

 

CLIMATE CHANGE ETHICS 

PHIL 475, CRN 48822 

 

DR. NATHAN NOBIS, FALL 2020 

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This course addresses the moral or ethical issues that result from climate change: what should we do, what must we do, to respond to climate change? What should we do individually, and what should we do collectively, as local communities, states, nations and as a global effort? Why must we do this, and how?  

 

To know what we should do about climate change, we need to know the facts. These facts are determined by science, so how do we develop scientific literacy so that more people, especially people of influence, better understand these facts? What must we do to increase the knowledge, understanding, and trust that’s needed to confront climate change?  

 

Climate change is an ethical issue, to put it very simply, because many bad things are happening, and are predicted to happen, because of it. What are these bad things, and who are they bad for? Simple questions here lead to complex and challenging ethical questions about our individual and collective ethical obligations, the nature of fairness and justice, and more. 

TO LEARN MORE, PLEASE CONTACT DR. NOBIS AT NATHAN.NOBIS@MOREHOUSE.EDU