2023

Conceptions of Nature, Environment and Landscape

Name: Conceptions of Nature, Environment and Landscape
Code: FIL10042O
3 ECTS
Duration: 15 weeks/78 hours
Scientific Area: Philosophy

Teaching languages: Portuguese
Languages of tutoring support: Portuguese, English
Regime de Frequência: E-learning

Presentation

the UC introduces the diversity of meanings of nature, environment and landscape, in common sense, science, art and philosophy, in order to understand its repercussions on representations and actions.

Sustainable Development Goals

Learning Goals

Conceived as an introductory and problematizing moment of the entire course "Environment, Sustainability, and Education", this UC intends to lead the students a) to a critical and comprehensive understanding of the different meanings and dimensions oft he notions of nature,environment and landscape, present in common use and in the scientific artistic and philosophical concepts, and b) to realized the implications of these notions and representations, not only in the Western World, but in others cultures as well, and their impact on the concrete human practices. This involves development of:

1. Scientific expertise:
1.1 activating the existing knowledge;
1.2 developing hermeneutical skills on the subjects exposed.

2. Learning kills:
2.1 by the development of interaction and cooperation;
2.2 by improving the practice of presentation of opinions, argumentation and debate.
2.3 by improving the building of collaborative texts.

Contents

1: Amplitude, ambivalence and complexity of the notions of "nature" and" environment". The “medial” function of "landscape." The philosophical question of the relationships between the natural and the cultural, the spontaneous and the artificial.
2. The notion of nature supposed in the conceptualization of the environment.The concepts of physis and natura and the modern understanding of nature; the emergence of the mechanism and vitalism. The notions of evolution and ecology. The formulation of a "science of the environment."
3.The constitution of the notion of environment. Environment, natural environment and ecosystem. The biotic and a-biotic factors, ecological and ethological aspects. The cultural transformation of nature. The question of technique. The psycho-sociological dimension of environment. The aesthetic significance of "atmosphere."
4.The interdisciplinary dimension and the notion of multifunctional landscape. The origins of landscape concepts, in China and Europe. “Artialization” and formalizing the notion of landscape.
5: The diversity of the anthropological implications of nature, environment and landscape. The "disappearance" of the contemporary notion of nature. Elements for a philosophy of sustainability.

Teaching Methods

The teaching combines lectures by the teachers with active methodologies, involving the participation, research and presentation by the students.
Teaching /learning:
1.Oral presentation of the theoretical syllabus, aided, when possible, by audiovisual means and illustrated by actual cases;
2. Reading, analysis and discussion of selected texts in specific fora;
3.Individual and group studies;
4. Tutorial guiding and e-learning’s methodologies(http://www.moodle.uevora.pt)

Evaluation:
The University of Évora‘ Students Regulations provides two types of evaluation –continuous evaluation and assessment by examination:
a. Continuous evaluation: a written test for each of the four sections of the syllabus(eacht est counting 25% of the final mark);
b. Final assessment: written examination (including contents developed in the four sections).

Teaching Staff