Bridges to Global Ethics: Geoethics at the Confluence of Humanities and Sciences

Description

This book contributes to the current discussion on geoethics and global ethics within the geoscience and humanities communities. It provides new content and insights into developing convergent human actions in response to global anthropogenic changes, based on perspectives that make it possible to combine geoscience knowledge with humanities and social sciences approaches. Selected authors present their reflections, findings and insights regarding the vision of geoethics (ethics of responsibility towards the Earth) as global ethics from philosophical, humanities and social sciences perspectives. In addition, they discuss ethical frameworks from diverse cultural traditions, searching for points of intersection with geoethics. The goal: for global environmental problems to be managed via multi-perspective approaches that can more effectively accommodate complexity. Combining the strengths of the geosciences, humanities and social sciences can pave the way for a paradigm shift in how human societies develop adaptive, sustainable responses to environmental changes and societal inequalities. Acknowledgement Contents 1 Introduction to the Book “Bridges to Global Ethics” 1.1 Motivation of the Book 1.2 Aim of the Book References 2 Geoethics for Redefining Human-Earth System Nexus 2.1 Introduction: Globalized Society, Anthropogenic Changes and Biocidal Loops 2.2 Pandemic and Global Warming as Effects of the Human Crisis 2.3 Geoethics to Realize an Ecological Humanism 2.4 An Expanded Definition of Geoethics 2.5 The Duty to be Human References 3 The Sustainable and the Unsustainable: What is a Habitable Planet? 3.1 Introduction 3.2 The Sustainable: Translation and Limitations of the Brundtland Report 3.3 Feeding and Caring for Yourself: Sustainability Criteria 3.4 From Nature to Earth: The Role of History 3.5 Environmental Ethics: The Place of Nature 3.6 Building the Place of the Humans on Earth 3.7 An Ethics of Pacified Relationship References 4 Geology and Knowledge Culture 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Current Efforts 4.3 The Huttonian Revolution 4.4 Making Deep Time Intuitive 4.5 Epistemic Assumptions 4.6 Infinite Knowledge 4.7 Sustainability and the University References 5 The Ethics of Gaia: Geoethics From an Evolutionary Perspective 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Critique of Anthropocentric Geoethics 5.2.1 Geosciences are Non-anthropocentric by Nature 5.2.2 Examining the Anthropocentric Claim: A Theoretical Bias? 5.3 Humans’ Place in the Earth System: A Non-anthropocentric Ambivalence 5.3.1 Destructive or Fundamental to the Ecosystems? Two Case Studies 5.3.2 The Unavoidable Ambivalence of Human Nature 5.4 Conclusions References 6 Materialities, Perceptions and Ethics 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Materialities and Ethical Imperatives 6.3 Perceptions and Perspectives 6.4 A Non-anthropocentric Human Perspective 6.5 Ethics Beyond Experiment 6.6 Understanding the Past and Technology 6.7 Understanding Symbiotic Relations 6.8 Understanding of Life 6.9 Conclusion References 7 Affirmative Ethics, New Materialism and the Posthuman Convergence 7.1 Introduction 7.2 The New-Materialist Turn 7.3 Critical Spinozism 7.4 Elemental Feminist Materialism 7.5 Racialized Materialism 7.6 Affirmative Ethics References 8 Epilogue 8.1 Introduction 8.2 The Inward Turn 8.3 Global Solutions Require Global Ethics 8.4 The Need to See Humans as an Integral Part of a Larger Whole 8.5 Concluding Words References