Selecting modules- it is hard

studentphil

I can not decide between Environmental Ethics or Philosophy of Biology.
You would not think it would be so hard to make these choices.

Ice_Queen_112

My rule of thumb for my masters was to choose as many modules as possible with non-exam assessments, as I can't stand exams.

misskool

If you can't decide, flip a coin.

studentphil

Philosophy of Biology is more interesting I am thinking now.

melancholly

if you're unsure, have a look at the lecturers - if both modules look equally interesting, think about who want to sit and listen to more!

mug51

misskool wrote:

If you can't decide, flip a coin.

love your decision making process, i did that to pick which university was my first choice

bestpud

Hiya

If I couldn't choose, I'd look to see which lecturer it was too - that can make a big difference imo!

Re flipping a coin - I sometimes find that helps me make a decision because I'll either feel happy with how it falls or I'll flip it again to try and get best of three. I then realise that I did have a preferred choice after all. I'm not sure why, but it definitely works for me!

Bestpud

misskool

mug51 wrote:

love your decision making process, i did that to pick which university was my first choice

Sad to say, that's how I picked my degree!! Not a bad thing as I enjoyed it enough to do a phd.:p

charts

studentphil wrote:

I can not decide between Environmental Ethics or Philosophy of Biology.
You would not think it would be so hard to make these choices.

Does your university allow changes? If so, you could always go to lectures for both for the first few weeks, incorporating the other poster's suggestions about how good/bad the lecturer is, and then change if need be.

One other point: have a look whether either module is a prerequisite for modules that you may want to do in the future.

tr3mor

Have a good look over past papers and the questions they've set?

If the questions are very similar year on year the exam should be VERY easy to revise for

Ted_Bloke

studentphil wrote:

I can not decide between Environmental Ethics or Philosophy of Biology.

phil you've taken this further in other threads but it will be easier to find here where it belongs!

Philosophy of biology would be somewhat relevant to some issues you have expressed an interest in, like can Evolutionary theory account for love - they would not talk much about that in particular but you could get some relevant instruments and access for that sort of thing. I tend to think knowing some biology or being able to catch on to some which would overlap but not coincide with that you learned at school is rather necessary, anyone who has actually been doing biology would have the advantage and in turn it is more useful to them.

Environmental ethics is more obviously relevant to many current issues. At least as citizenship it is good to have ppl with a more trained approach than the slapdash and contradictory undisciplined way these things are discussed, and might even be an appreciable background for various kinds of jobs.

(Bioethics which is big these days is between the above two.)
There are various other considerations like the ppl etc. that you know best.