Important notice
The course guide is provisional.
The PDF version of the course guide may take a few days to become available in the DDD.
Care and Nature
Code: 45070Credits: 6
| Degree programme | Type | Course |
|---|---|---|
| Philosophies of Care | OB | 1 |
Contact lecturer
- Name :
- Marta Tafalla Gonzalez
- Email :
- marta.tafalla@uab.cat
Teaching staff
- Marta Tafalla Gonzalez
Group languages
You can consult this information at the end of the document.
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites.
Objectives
In a context of severe ecological crisis (climate chaos, mass wildlife extermination, ecosystem degradation, pollution...), this course aims to analyze our relationship with other species, ecosystems, and the biosphere, with the objective of understanding the causes of the aforementioned crisis and considering possible solutions. Although we will always start from scientific knowledge, our perspective will be philosophical, combining disciplines such as ecological ethics, animal ethics, the aesthetics of nature, and animal aesthetics. We will address different theories and philosophical positions, paying special attention to ecofeminism, and analyze concepts such as anthropocentrism, speciesism, metaphysical dualism, the logic of domination, and overshoot.
Learning outcomes
- CA12 (Include the ethics of care in multidisciplinary research environments.) Include the ethics of care in multidisciplinary research environments.
- CA13 (Include social-environmental diversity and ecofeminism in professional activities and research.) Include social-environmental diversity and ecofeminism in professional activities and research.
- KA16 (Identify basic philosophical concepts of nature ethics and animal ethics.) Identify basic philosophical concepts of nature ethics and animal ethics.
- KA17 (Indicate moral dilemmas of real cases based on the terminology and main concepts of animal ethics.) Indicate moral dilemmas of real cases based on the terminology and main concepts of animal ethics.
- KA18 (Contrast non-anthropocentric visions taking into account the principles of ecological ethics, animal ethics and the aesthetics of nature through practical cases.) Contrast non-anthropocentric visions taking into account the principles of ecological ethics, animal ethics and the aesthetics of nature through practical cases.
- SA17 (Debate contemporary philosophical research issues associated with the concept of care in the theoretical contexts of the philosophy of nature.) Debate contemporary philosophical research issues associated with the concept of care in the theoretical contexts of the philosophy of nature.
- SA18 (Assess the social impacts of interventions in ecology and health applying the care perspective.) Assess the social impacts of interventions in ecology and health applying the care perspective.
- SA19 (Propose initiatives aimed at disseminating knowledge of the social impact of the interaction between care and nature from an ecological and gender perspective.) Propose initiatives aimed at disseminating knowledge of the social impact of the interaction between care and nature from an ecological and gender perspective.
- SA20 (Critically interpret the origin and reliability of specific document sources in relation to the issue of animal rights and animal ethics.) Critically interpret the origin and reliability of specific document sources in relation to the issue of animal rights and animal ethics.
Contents
1. Environmental Ethics
1.1. Description of the environmental crisis
1.2. Philosophical analysis of the causes of the environmental crisis: capitalism, colonialism, anthropocentrism, androcentrism, speciesism, metaphysical dualism, logic of domination, overshoot
1.3. Philosophical analysis of possible solutions to the environmental crisis: reconciliation with other species, recognition of our finitude, degrowth, veganism, rewilding
2. Animal Ethics
2.1. Relationships between the environmental crisis and the domination of other animals
2.2. Relationships of animal ethics with degrowth, veganism, and rewilding
3. Aesthetics of Nature and Animal Aesthetics
3.1. The role of aesthetics in our relationship with other species and ecosystems
3.2. From superficial aesthetics to deep aesthetics
Learning activities and methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work of the students with the provided materials | 120 | 4.8 |
The methodology of the course is typical of a distance learning class. The lecturer will regularly share a series of materials with the students through the virtual campus, accompanied by instructions on how to work with them.
Students are expected to read the texts that will be shared with them and to view the visual materials, always reflecting critically on the issues raised in these materials.
Students will be required to prepare three written exercises on topics related to the course themes.
Assessment
Continuous assessment activities
| Title | Weight | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exercise on topic 2 | 33,3% | 10 | 0.4 | CA12, CA13, KA16, KA17, KA18, SA17, SA18, SA19, SA20 |
| Exercise on topic 3 | 33,3% | 10 | 0.4 | CA12, CA13, KA16, KA17, KA18, SA17, SA18, SA19, SA20 |
| Exercise on topic 1 | 33,3% | 10 | 0.4 | CA12, CA13, KA16, KA17, KA18, SA17, SA18, SA19, SA20 |
The assessment will consist of three written exercises, one for each of the subjects of the course.
The first exercise consists of writing a short essay about the contents of the first topic; the second involves writing a short play in which the characters debate the contents of the second topic; and the third exercise consists of taking a walk through a natural setting or an urban park (chosen by the student), and then explaining the aesthetic experiences encountered.
To pass the course, the student must complete and pass all three exercises. The final grade is the average grade of the three exercises.
If a student does not complete any of the tests, or completes only one of them, they will be considered 'not evaluable.'
On carrying out each evaluation activity, the lecturer will inform the students of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.
Students who formally request it within the established deadline may opt for single assessment. The single assessment will consist of three written tests, one for each topic of the course. These three tests will be similar to those used in continuous assessment, and the final grade will be the average of the three.
This subject entirely prohibits the use of AI technologies in all of its activities. Any submitted work that contains content generated using AI will be considered academic dishonesty; the corresponding grade will be awarded a zero, without the possibility of reassessment. In cases of greater infringement, more serious action may be taken.
In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student willbe given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.
Bibliography
Attached here is a small introductory bibliography. Throughout the course, more specific bibliography will be recommended for each topic.
Adams, Carol & Gruen, Lori (eds.), Ecofeminism. Feminist intersections with other animals and the earth (Bloomsbury, 2014); Ecofeminismo. Intersecciones feministas con otros animales y con la Tierra (Levanta Fuego, 2022), trad. Francisco Jota-Pérez, José Luis Rodríguez y Layla Martínez.
Albelda, José; Parreño, José María & Marrero Henríquez, J. M. (eds.), Humanidades ambientales (Los Libros de la Catarata, 2018).
Albelda, José; Arribas-Herguedas, Fernando & Madorrán, Carmen (eds.), Humanidades ecológicas (Tirant, 2023).
Almiron, Núria & Khazaal, Natalie, "Lobbying Against Compassion: Speciesist Discourse in the Vivisection Industrial Complex", American Behavioral Scientist, 60(3), 2016.
Almiron, Núria (ed.), Animal Suffering and Public Relations. The Ethics of Persuasion in the Animal Industrial Complex (Routledge, 2024).
Almiron, Núria & Díaz, Estela (eds.), Compasión y Especismo (Dykinson, 2026).
Antón, Eva, Género y naturaleza en las narrativas contemporáneas francesa y española (Universidad de Valladolid, 2018).
Balza, Isabel, De lo salvaje y de la escritura animal (Plaza y Valdés, 2025).
Brady, Emily, "Aesthetic Value and Wild Animals" in M. Drenthen and J. Keulartz, (eds.), Environmental Aesthetics (New York: Fordham University Press, 2014).
Casal, Paula, "Los derechos homínidos. Una defensa ecuménica", Daimon, 2017.
Casal, Paula & Singer, Peter, Los derechos de los simios (Trotta, 2022).
Carretero-González, Margarita (ed.), Spanish Thinking about Animals (Michigan State University Press, 2020).
Cendón González, Alexandre, Natureza e vulnerabilidade, Laiovento, 2026.
Codina, Juan Ignacio, Pan y toros: breve historia del pensamiento antitaurino español (Plaza y Valdés, 2018).
Crary,Alice & Gruen, Lori, Crisis animal. Una nueva teoría crítica (Cátedra, 2023), trad. Ana Bustelo.
Donaldson, Sue & Kymlicka, Will, Zoopolis. A Political Theory of Animal Rights (Oxford University Press, 2011); Zoópolis. Una revolución animalista (Errata Naturae, 2018) trans. Silvia Moreno Parrado.
Escartín, Montse, "La literatura, una forma de audacia moral", Actas del Primer Congreso de la Red Española de Filosofía, 2015.
Fernández, Laura, Hacia mundos más animales(Ochodoscuatro ediciones, 2018).
Hribal, Jason, Los animales son parte de la clase trabajadora (Ochodoscuatroediciones, 2014).
Khazaal, Natalie & Almiron, Núria, "An Angry Cow is not a Good Eating Experience. How U.S. and Spanish Media are Shifting from Crude to Camouflaged Speciesism in Concealing Nonhuman Perspectives", Journalism Studies, 17(3), 2016.
Leyton, Fabiola, Los animales en la bioética (Herder, 2019).
Madorrán, Carmen, Necesidades ante la crisis ecosocial. Pensar la vida buena en el Antropoceno (Plaza y Valdés, 2023).
Malm, Andreas, El murciélago y el capital. Coronavirus, cambio climático y guerra social (Errata Naturae, 2020), trad. Miguel Ros González.
Marris, Emma, Wild Souls. What We Owe Animals in a Changing World (Bloomsbury, 2021).
Monbiot, George, Feral. Rewilding the land, the sea, and human life (The University of Chicago Press, 2014); Salvaje. Renaturalizar la tierra, el mar y la vida humana (Capitan Swing, 2018) trans. Ana Momplet Chico.
Moyano, Cristian, Ética del rewilding (Plaza y Valdés, 2022).
Moyano, Cristian, Rewilding and Ecological Justice (Routledge, 2025).
Palau, Jordi, Rewilding Iberia. Explorando el potencial de la renaturalización en España (Lynx, 2020).
Parsons, Glenn; Hettinger, Ned & Shapshay, Sandra (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Nature and Environmental Aesthetics (Routledge, 2025).
Pelluchon, Corine, Reparemos el mundo. Humanos, animales, naturaleza (NED, 2022), trad. Sion Serra Lopes.
Plumwood, Val, Environmental Culture (Routledge, 2002).
Puleo, Alicia, Ecofeminismo para otro mundo posible (Cátedra, 2011).
Puleo, Alicia, Claves ecofeministas para rebeldes que aman a la Tierra y a los animales (Plaza y Valdés, 2019).
Riechmann, Jorge, Interdependientes y ecodependientes. Ensayos desdela ética ecológica y hacia ella (Proteus, 2012).
Riechmann, Jorge; Almazán Gómez, Adrián; Madorrán Ayerra, Carmen & Santiago Muíño, Emilio, Ecosocialismo descalzo (Icaria, 2018).
Riechmann, Jorge, Simbioética (Plaza yValdés, 2022).
Shah, Sonia, The Next Great Migration (Bloomsbury, 2020);La próxima gran migración (Continta me tienes, 2022), trad. Matilde Pérez.
Tafalla, Marta, "La apreciación estética de los animales. Consideraciones estéticas y éticas", Bioética y Derecho, num 28,2013.
Tafalla, Marta, "Una estética del circo y de los espectáculos circenses con animales", Convivium, num 27/28, 2015.
Tafalla, Marta, "The aesthetic appreciation of animals in zoological parks", Contemporary Aesthetics, vol15, 2017.
Tafalla, Marta, Ecoanimal. Una estética plurisensorial, ecologista y animalista (Plaza y Valdés, 2019).
Tafalla, Marta, Filosofía ante la crisis ecológica (Plaza y Valdés, 2022).
Tafalla, Marta, “Overcoming Climate Breakdown Denial and Neglect through the Aesthetics of Nature”, Contemporary Aesthetics, vol. 21, 2023.
Tafalla, Marta, Paradojas de la experimentación en animales. Ética, salud y crisis ecológica (Plaza y Valdés, 2025).
Tapia González, Aimé, Mujeres indígenas en defensa de la tierra (Cátedra,2018).
Tempest Williams, Terry, Refuge (Pantheon Books, 1991); Refugio (Errata Naturae, 2018) trans. Regina López Muñoz.
Velasco, Angélica, La ética animal. ¿Una cuestiónfeminista? (Cátedra, 2017).
Vettese, Troy & Pendergrass, Drew, Socialismo de medio planeta. Un plan para salvar el futurode la extinción, el cambio climático y las pandemias (Levanta fuego, 2023), trad. Francisco Jota-Pérez
Software
No special software is necessary.
Course groups and languages
The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE
| Type of teaching | Group | Language | Semester | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (VIRT2022m) Classes virtuals (màster) | 70 | Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |