The conference welcomes Dale Jamieson, Professor of Environmental Studies and Philosophy, Director for Environmental and Animal Protection at New York University. Jamieson’s lecture Climate, Carbon, and What Really Matters explores the historical context in the political-economic sphere and a philosophical approach related to climate change.
Jamieson along with many others have, for decades, beat the drum for climate change action. Yet little meaningful action has been taken. Much of what is under discussion today is a rediscovery of what should have been done in the last century. Even the geoengineering discussion looks backwards, towards strategies that we hope would allow us to turn the global thermostat down to something closer to the comfortable Holocene norm.
Looking backwards can even lead to myopic, complacent, and self-righteous views of climate justice. Yes there would be no climate crisis without settler colonialism or fossil capitalism. Nor would there be a climate crisis had Homo sapiens never left Africa, or even perhaps if agricultural surpluses, the green revolution, or the suppression of infectious diseases not occurred.
Some of these considerations matter and matter a lot, but exactly how they matter and to what extent, depends on how they fit into a path forward.
What matters for a path forward is not decarbonization, alternative energy, or even “sustainability” for their own sakes, but the roles they play in realizing our values and in enabling our lives to have meaning in a world in which the invitation to humans to dance with the rest of nature cannot politely be declined.
The conference welcomes, Romana Bassi (University of Padua), Pierfrancesco Biasetti (Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research), and Massimo De Marchi (University of Padua) for a discussion moderated by Andrea Altobrando (University of Padua). Partecipants include: Antonio Da Re, Simone Grigoletto, Luca Illetterati, Vittorio Morato, and Marzia Soavi.
Participation is free.
Dale Jamieson teaches courses in environmental studies, philosophy, and law. He is among the first scholars to investigate the historical, economic-political, and philosophical dimensions of climate change. Jamieson’s current research focuses on nature, love, the Anthropocene, political theory, and the relationships between the protection of the environment and animals. He is the author of several books, including Reason in a Dark Time: Why the Struggle to Stop Climate Change Failed – and What It Means for Our Future (2014); Ethics and the Environment: An Introduction (2008); Morality’s Progress: Essays on Humans, Other Animals, and the Rest of Nature (2002). In 2015 he co-authored a collection of short stories and essays called Love in the Anthropocene with Bonnie Nadzam.