<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The Anthropocene confronts environmental philosophy with one of the most urgent questions of the 21<sup>st</sup> century: How to maintain the earth’s condition in a way that allows current and future human generations to thrive? By asking such a question, ethical thought ceases to be solely a matter of individuality or morality. Instead, it raises a political issue: How can or should environmental philosophy relate to society in the Anthropocene? This article argues for a <italic>critical</italic> perspective that draws on contemporary historic materialist scholars and politicises societal power relations. It exemplifies this approach by discussing key-terms of the Anthropocene discourse, like planetary boundaries, tipping points, and space-ship earth. The article concludes that the idea that “we have to act fast now” would be dangerously too easy because it ignores the ambivalent character of human-nature relations.</p>
</abstract>

The Anthropocene confronts environmental philosophy with one of the most urgent questions of the 21st century: How to maintain the earth’s condition in a way that allows current and future human generations to thrive? By asking such a question, ethical thought ceases to be solely a matter of individuality or morality. Instead, it raises a political issue: How can or should environmental philosophy relate to society in the Anthropocene? This article argues for a critical perspective that draws on contemporary historic materialist scholars and politicises societal power relations. It exemplifies this approach by discussing key-terms of the Anthropocene discourse, like planetary boundaries, tipping points, and space-ship earth. The article concludes that the idea that “we have to act fast now” would be dangerously too easy because it ignores the ambivalent character of human-nature relations.

What is critical in the Anthropocene? A discussion of four conceptual problems from the environmental-political philosophy perspective

Ethics & Bioethics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The Anthropocene confronts environmental philosophy with one of the most urgent questions of the 21st century: How to maintain the earth’s condition in a way...

What is critical in the Anthropocene? A discussion of four conceptual problems from the environmental-political philosophy perspective

Published Online: Dec 12, 2020

Page range: 190 - 202

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ebce-2020-0018

Keywords
Anthropocene, environmental philosophy, ethics, social theory, critical thought

© 2020 Daniel Buschmann, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

What is critical in the Anthropocene? A discussion of four conceptual problems from the environmental-political philosophy perspective

Published Online: Dec 12, 2020

Page range: 190 - 202

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ebce-2020-0018

KeywordsAnthropocene, environmental philosophy, ethics, social theory, critical thought

© 2020 Daniel Buschmann, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Anthropocene, environmental philosophy, ethics, social theory, critical thought