What underlying conceptual questions prompted this new characterization of our planet’s present era? What does this imply for the distinctions we have become accustomed to: between human subjects (however varied) and the non-human realm, between nature and artifice, between agency and objectivity? These conceptual questions are not simply academic; they are asked with a view to exploring the difference such reflection might make to our (potential) agentive efficacy in a time of unprecedented (but by now) chronic crisis. The panel will be informed by multiple perspectives -- literary, philosophical, scientific, psychological— which, it is hoped, will be generative in future discussions.
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This is a past event that happened on 2:30pm on Saturday, April 27th, 2019.
Participants
Akeel Bilgrami
Sidney Morgenbesser Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University
Akeel Bilgrami got a B.A in English Literature from Elphinstone College, Bombay University and went to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar where he read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. He has a Ph.D in Philosophy from the University of Chicago. He is the Sidney Morgenbesser Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, where he is also a... read more! »
Amitav Ghosh
Author
Amitav Ghosh was born in Calcutta and grew up in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He is the author of two books of non-fiction, a collection of essays and eight novels. His most recent book is The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable (2016). His books have won many prizes and he holds four... read more! »
Dale Jamieson
Professor of Environmental Studies and Philosophy, Affiliated Professor of Law, and Director of the Center for Environmental and Animal Protection, New York University.
Dale Jamieson is Professor of Environmental Studies and Philosophy, Affiliated Professor of Law, and Director of the Center for Environmental and Animal Protection at New York University. His is the author of Reason in a Dark Time: Why the Struggle to Stop Climate Change Failed and What It Means for Our Future (2014), and Discerning... read more! »
John Kress
Distinguished Scientist & Curator of Botany, Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History
Dr. W. John Kress is Distinguished Scientist and Curator of Botany at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. He formerly served as the Interim Under Secretary for Science at the Smithsonian and Director of Science in the Grand Challenges Consortia. Dr. Kress received his education at Harvard University (B.A., 1975) and Duke University (Ph.D.,... read more! »
Donald Moss
Program Chair of APsaA
With 40+ years of clinical experience, author of 4 books, 60+ articles, winner of the Elizabeth Young-Bruehl award from the IPA for his work against prejudice, current Program Chair of APsaA, Moss is a founding member of Green Gang, a group of analysts and scientists focusing on climate change and its denial. Recent articles include... read more! »
Nermeen Shaikh
Co-Host & News Producer, Democracy Now!
Nermeen Shaikh is a Co-Host and News Producer at Democracy Now! She is the author of The Present as History published by Columbia University Press. She has a B.A. (Honours) from Queen’s University in Canada, and an M.Phil. in politics from Cambridge University. She regularly speaks on issues ranging from contemporary news media and film... read more! »
I hope questions like these are discussed:
1) The crises result from oversurvival. Individuals consume more than what the ecosystem can provide. Given that every speaker is a member of the global 10% if not 1% in terms of wealth and causing pollution, and that if every human were to live like him or her, we humans would perish, what would they give up in their life to comply with an ecologically sustainable lifestyle? Average American consumes 6x the global average.
2) This time of unprecedented (but by now) chronic crisis could very well end the Anthropocene if they aren’t resolved and we go extinct. Reflecting on the nature of naming in a post-human world.
3) One proposal for the start of the Anthropocene is the culling by disease of native Americans. When does the Anthropocene start? Was the destruction of the future already baked in or could humans have averted the current crises? Does Kant’s “ought” scale to this level? (for Kant morality is a question of metaphysics).