Climate Change and Philosophy: Transformational Possibilities

Description

Climate Change and Philosophy presents ten original essays by an international team of expert contributors, exploring the important contribution philosophical inquiry can make to contemporary debates to do with climate change and the global environment. Examining this hugely topical issue through the lens of environmental philosophy, political theory, philosophy of technology, philosophy of education and feminist theory, these essays interrogate some of the presumptions that inform modernity and our interaction with natural processes. The book asks fundamental questions about human nature and, more importantly, the concept of 'nature' itself. The conceptual frameworks presented here contribute to an understanding of the processes of change, of social transformation, and the means of adapting to the constraints that problems such as climate change pose. The book proposes a way of beginning the important task of rethinking the relationship between humanity and the natural environment. Through enquiry into the basic philosophical principles that inform modern society, each author asserts that reflection informs change and that change is both required and possible in the context of the environmental crisis facing us today.

Ruth Irwin is Senior Lecturer in Business Ethics at Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand.

"This thought-provoking book is about the transformation of the modern, human world in the face of climate change. The authors take the interconnections between our changing climate, the shifting realities of modernity and philosophy itself very seriously, and if it were needed this book is proof that philosophy can make a contribution to humanity's most important conversation." - James Garvey, Secretary of the Royal Institute of Philosophy, and author of The Ethics of Climate Change