Acceso abierto

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


Cite

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.

eISSN:
2453-7829
Idioma:
Inglés
Calendario de la edición:
2 veces al año
Temas de la revista:
Philosophy, Ethics, Applied Ethics, Bio Ethics and Ethics of Medicine, Ethics of Science, Business Ethics, Ethics of Ecology, other