Responsibility for the end of nature: Or, how I learned to stop worrying and love global warming
Ethics and the Environment 14 (1):pp. 79-99 (2009)
| Abstract | Global warming has aroused profound concerns about the future of humanity and the planet as a whole. Indeed, Bill McKibben has argued that anthropogenic climate change is tantamount to the very end of nature and articulates a sense of deep anxiety that many people share. I argue that this feeling of anxiety cannot be fully accounted for either by appeal to the consequences of global warming or the associated injustices. I locate its source with our recognition that human beings are now responsible for some of the basic conditions supporting all life on Earth. I argue that if we are to assume such an awesome responsibility (and we must), it's good that we do so anxiously. While some have criticized the "I have a nightmare" global warming rhetoric of environmentalists, I identify a particular feature of our nightmare and claim that in it we can find a source for hope. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,711 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesAaron Maltais (2008). Global Warming and the Cosmopolitan Political Conception of Justice. Environmental Politics 17 (4):592-609.
J. A. Towey (2008). Classics and Global Warming. Classics Broadsheet (125).
Elizabeth R. DeSombre (2004). Response to the Global Warming Tragedy. Global Warming: More Common Than Tragic. Ethics and International Affairs 18 (1):41–46.
Furio Cerutti (forthcoming). Defining Risk, Motivating Responsibility and Rethinking Global Warming. Science and Engineering Ethics.
Mark A. Seabright (2011). The Role of the Affect Heuristic in Moral Reactions to Climate Change. Journal of Global Ethics 6 (1):5-15.
Howard Friel (2010). The Lomborg Deception: Setting the Record Straight About Global Warming. Yale University Press.
Emery M. Roe (1992). Global Warming as Analytic Tip. Critical Review 6 (2-3):411-427.
Nicholas Maxwell (2008). Are Philosophers Responsible for Global Warming? Philosophy Now 65 (65):12-13.
Aaron Maltais (2008). Global Warming and Our Natural Duties of Justice. Dissertation, Uppsala University
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-05-13Total downloads52 ( #20,014 of 551,007 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,425 of 551,007 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
