astronomy

Robin Attfield

Robin Attfield is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Robin Attfield rather than just read about it. In short: Robin Attfield is a British philosopher known for his work on environmental philosophy, ethics, the history of philosophy and the philosophy of religion. He is an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Cardiff University.

Key takeaways

Robin Attfield belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Robin Attfield to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Robin Attfield from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Robin Attfield is a British philosopher known for his work on environmental philosophy, ethics, the history of philosophy and the philosophy of religion. He is an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Cardiff University. Attfield read Greats (philosophy, classics and ancient history) at Christ Church and theology at Regent's Park College, Oxford. He began lecturing at Cardiff in 1968, completing a PhD at the University of Wales in 1972. He was promoted to Professor in 1992, and was awarded a DLitt by Cardiff in 2008. He is a member of the Council of the Royal Institute of Philosophy; a former co-opted member of the executive committee of the British Philosophical Association; Chair of the Cardiff Branch of the Royal Institute of Philosophy; and a former member of the UNESCO working party on environmental ethics.

Select bibliography Books authored or edited by Robin Attfield include:

Environmental Ethics: An Overview for the Twenty-First Century (Polity-Blackwell, 2003; 2nd Ed 2014-03-31) Creation, Evolution and Meaning (Ashgate, 2006).ISBN 978-0754604754 Environmental Ethics and Global Sustainability, in Henk A.M.J. ten Have (ed.), Environmental Ethics and International Policy, Paris: UNESCO, 2006, 69–87, ISBN 92-3-104039-1; ISBN 978-92-3-104039-9 Robin Attfield, God and The Secular: A Philosophical Assessment of Secular Reasoning from Bacon to Kant (2nd edn.), Aldershot: Gregg Revivals and Brookfield, VT: Ashgate, 1993, pp. 231, ISBN 0-7512-0243-6. Robin Attfield, The Ethics of Environmental Concern, (2nd. edn., 31 Aug. 1991) ISBN 978-0820313443, translated into Korean by Seunghoe Koo, Seoul: Earth Love Publications, 1997, pp. 377, ISBN 89-85277-21-9. Robin Attfield, A Theory of Value and Obligation, London, Sydney, New York: Croom Helm, 1987, pp. x + 262, ISBN 0-7099-0572-6. Robin Attfield and Katharine Dell (eds.), Values, Conflict and the Environment (Report of the environmental ethics interdisciplinary Working Party of the Ian Ramsey Centre, St. Cross College, Oxford), 2nd edn., Aldershot: Avebury, and Brookfield, VT: Ashgate, 1996, pp. xii + 174; ISBN 1-85972-491-4. Robin Attfield and Barry Wilkins (eds.), International Justice and the Third World: Essays in the Philosophy of Development, London and New York: Routledge, 1992, pp. ix + 207, ISBN 0-415-06924-6 (hb); ISBN 0-415-06925-4 (pb). Robin Attfield, Environmental Philosophy: Principles and Prospects, Aldershot: Avebury and Brookfield, VT: Ashgate, 1994(i), pp.viii + 262; ISBN 1-85628-566-9. Robin Attfield and Andrew Belsey (eds.), Philosophy and the Natural Environment (also published as Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 36), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994(ii), pp. vi + 250, ISBN 0-521-46903-1. Robin Attfield, Value, Obligation and Meta-Ethics, Amsterdam and Atlanta: Rodopi, 1995, pp. xv + 319; ISBN 90-5183-857-3 (hb); ISBN 90-5183-862-X (pb). (Republished Robin Attfield, The Ethics of the Global Environment, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1999, in the World Ethics Series edited by Nigel Dower, pp. viii + 232, ISBN 07486-0895-8; also West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 1999, ISBN 1-55753-189-7. Robin Attfield, Environmental Ethics: An Overview for the Twenty-First Century, Polity Press, Cambridge, and Blackwell, Malden, MA, 2003, pp. xii + 232. ISBN 0-7456-2737-4 (hb); ISBN 0-7456-2738-2 (pb); (2nd Edn) 14-Mar-2014 ISBN 978-0745652535 Robin Attfield, Creation, Evolution and Meaning, Aldershot, UK and Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2006, pp. ix + 234. ISBN 0-7546-0474-8 and ISBN 0-7546-0475-6. (Also an e-book) Robin Attfield (ed.), The Ethics of the Environment, Farnham, UK and Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2008, pp. xxx + 620, ISBN 978-0-7546-2786-9. Robin Attfield, Ethics: An Overview, London and New York: Continuum/Bloomsbury, 2012, pp. xii + 262. ISBN 978-1-4411-4403-4 (hb); ISBN 978-1-4411-8205-0 (pb). (Also an e-book) Editors: Robin Attfield, Lucas Andrianos, Jan-Willem Sneep, Guillermo KerberSustainable Alternatives for Poverty Reduction and Eco-Justice: Volume 1; 1 Dec 2014 (hb); ISBN 978-1443866897 Robin Attfield: Every Teacher a Leader: Developing and Realizing Potential 15 Dec 2007 (pb); ISBN 978-1855392267 Ed. Robin Attfield and Barry Wilkins International Justice and the Third World: Studies in the Philosophy of Development; 1 Nov 1992; (pb) ISBN 978-0415069250 Robin Attfield: Environmental Ethics: A Very Short Introduction; 13 Dec 2018 (pb) ISBN 978-0198797166 Robin Attfield: Wonder, Value and God: 18 Sep 2018; (pb) ISBN 978-1138388161 Robin Attfield: Environmental Thought: A Short History; 2021; Polity. ISBN 978-1-509-53667-2 Robin Attfield: Applied Ethics: An Introduction; 2022; Polity. ISBN 978-1-509-54738-8

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Robin Attfield

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Robin Attfield claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Robin Attfield before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Robin Attfield ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Robin Attfield

In research: Robin Attfield appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Robin Attfield in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Robin Attfield is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Academics of Cardiff University, Alumni of Cardiff University, Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Robin Attfield outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Robin Attfield in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Robin Attfield means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Robin Attfield out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Robin Attfield in simple terms?

Why does Robin Attfield matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Robin Attfield?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Robin Attfield.