Back to TGE 1257 - Ethics in Applied Technology

Part 4I.3: Ethical Excavations (Environmental Ethics - Independent Exploration)

Authors: Clayn D. Lambert
License: CC BY-SA 4.0

Topic Outcomes

By the end of Part 4, you should be able to:

  • Excavate existing environmental ethics patterns in your personal reasoning (if choosing this module)

  • Analyze origins and development of your sustainability-focused thinking (self-directed)

  • Navigate tensions between environmental ethics and other reasoning approaches (independently)

  • Apply self-directed archaeological analysis method to discover framework concepts (with minimal scaffolding)

  • Integrate environmental ethics insights into your ongoing conflict map (optionally, based on relevance)

Topic Summary

Part 4: Environmental Ethics - Learning Outcomes

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Independent Learning Module

Primary Learning Outcomes

Excavate Existing Environmental Ethics Patterns in Personal Reasoning

Students will independently identify where non-human consideration, interconnectedness awareness, and sustainability-focused thinking already appears in their ethical decision-making.

Evidence of Learning:

  • Takes initiative in recognizing existing expansion of moral consideration beyond humans to include animals, ecosystems, or future generations

  • Identifies personal awareness of ecological interconnectedness and long-term environmental consequences

  • Discovers unconscious sustainability considerations or environmental justice concerns in decision-making patterns

  • Maps where environmental reasoning conflicts with anthropocentric or short-term economic approaches

Analyze Origins and Development of Environmental Ethics Thinking

Students will self-direct investigation into how their ecological and sustainability-focused reasoning patterns developed through personal experience.

Evidence of Learning:

  • Takes autonomous approach to connecting environmental awareness patterns to nature experiences, climate concerns, or formative ecological moments

  • Independently explains how focus on non-human moral consideration might have been shaped by personal history

  • Self-identifies sources of their approach to balancing human needs with environmental protection

  • Recognizes experiential factors that encouraged attention to intergenerational responsibility or species interconnection

Navigate Tensions Between Environmental Ethics and Other Reasoning Patterns

Students will independently explore conflicts between ecological thinking and human-centered, economic efficiency, or individual rights approaches.

Evidence of Learning:

  • Takes initiative in identifying specific conflicts between environmental protection and immediate human welfare or economic development

  • Self-directs exploration of tensions between long-term sustainability and short-term utilitarian calculations

  • Independently recognizes where environmental logic conflicts with individual property rights or anthropocentric virtue ethics

  • Analyzes situations where ecological consideration feels impractical or economically burdensome

Apply Self-Directed Archaeological Analysis Method to Philosophical Framework

Students will independently design and conduct excavation of environmental ethics concepts in their reasoning, with minimal external scaffolding.

Evidence of Learning:

  • Takes initiative in developing personalized approach to environmental ethics excavation based on conflict map needs

  • Creates original prompts and questions for AI-guided analysis rather than following provided templates

  • Engages in self-directed discovery with greater autonomy over the investigation process

  • Demonstrates independent assessment of whether environmental ethics analysis adds value to their ethical reasoning

Integrate Environmental Ethics Analysis into Ongoing Conflict Map (Optional)

Students may choose to add environmental ethics insights to their developing understanding of personal ethical complexity if the framework proves relevant to their dilemma.

Evidence of Learning:

  • Makes informed decision about whether environmental ethics analysis warrants inclusion in conflict map

  • Creates environmental ethics addendum only if it reveals significant patterns or tensions

  • Adds citations to existing conflict map if ecological reasoning proves relevant

  • Builds cumulative analysis that selectively integrates frameworks based on personal relevance

Topic Sources

Topic Authors

Clayn D. Lambert