The Sustainability Curriculum

Chapter 17

Sustainability and Philosophy

Clare Palmer

INTRODUCTION

There are many ways in which a chapter on the discipline of philosophy and sustainability in higher education might be approached. This chapter considers only two relevant intersections between philosophy and sustainability. These are, first, an outline of the contributions that philosophical debate has made to exploring the meaning – or meanings – of sustainability and the ethical and political ideas associated with it; and, second, a discussion of the place of sustainability in Anglo-American philosophy, more broadly, including a brief consideration of some of the hurdles faced by those working on philosophy and sustainability in higher education. The chapter will, primarily, ...