Third Workshop on Ethics and Adaptation: Finding the Environment in the Anthropocene

A common theme in discussions of the Anthropocene is that humans are now one of the dominant drivers of change in the Earth’s systems. A second, closely related theme is that our environment is changing. As concerns over the affects of climate change, the loss of species, and other harbingers of the Anthropocene gather most of the attention of environmental theorists and policy makers alike, it is worth reflecting on how our understanding of the environment has or should change. The third workshop on ethics and adaptation will provide a setting for this reflection.

Recognizing that moving forward on these issues will require a broad and inclusive conversation, the third workshop on ethics and adaptation will bring together researchers and practitioners working on issues related to ethics, adaptation, and sustainability. Contributions from non-traditional and diverse perspectives are particularly welcome as are contributions from those who bring diversity and divergent viewpoints to the discussion.

The workshop on ethics and adaptation draws together thinkers addressing some of the most pressing environmental issues of our day. The workshop is designed to be small, collaborative, and focused on conversation and the development of ideas rather than the presentation of completed papers.

Confirmed participants include:

• Stephen Gardiner (Professor of Philosophy and Ben Rabinowitz Endowed Professor of Human Dimensions of the Environment at the University of Washington; author of The Perfect Moral Storm: The Ethical Tragedy of Climate Change, and coeditor of The Oxford Handbook of Environmental Ethics),
• Dale Jamieson (Professor of Philosophy and Environmental Studies at NYU; author of Reason in a Dark Time and coauthor of Love in the Anthropocene),
• Andrew Light (University Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy, and Director of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at George Mason University; former Senior Climate Change Advisor, Department of State; coauthor of Environmental Values and coeditor of Ethics in the Anthropocene),
• Clare Palmer (Professor of Philosophy at Texas A&M University; author of Animal Ethics in Context and coeditor of Linking Ecology and Ethics for a Changing World)
• Steven Vogel (Professor of Philosophy at Denison University; author of Thinking Like a Mall: Environmental Philosophy after the End of Nature).  

Submissions are invited in any relevant discipline. Topics might include (but are not limited to):

·       Whether the Anthropocene requires a new conceptualization of the environment;

·       The influence of the Anthropocene on the value of the environment

·       The role and standing of the environment in climate policy;

·       The nature and role of the environment in debates over the new conservationism movement;

·       Conceptualizing “wilderness” in an era that many claim to be “after” nature?

·       Sustainable development and the environment

·       Environmental justice and the value of environmental resources

·       The relation between the environment and human flourishing.

Submission Procedure, Workshop Format, and Other Particulars:

500 word abstracts or preliminary proposals should be submitted by March 31st, 2016 to Ken Shockley (kes25 at buffalo dot edu).  Authors of selected abstracts will be notified by May 1st, 2016.

For those proposals selected, short (1500-2500 word) work-in-progress papers will be due August 1st, 2016. We will discuss these circulated drafts during the two days of the workshop. Each workshop participant will have 15 minutes to present or expand upon work previous circulated. This will be followed by 30 minutes of open discussion. There will be ample time during the course of the workshop for open discussion and the coordination of future projects and common endeavors. There will be opportunities to publish the results of this workshop; the first two workshops on ethics and adaptation resulted in special issues of Environmental Values and Ethics, Policy, and Environment and an edited collection to be published in 2016 with MIT Press.

Accommodation will be provided for workshop participants, but at this time we cannot commit to covering transportation expenses. We are hopeful that limited travel funds may become available.

Questions or concerns? Contact Ken Shockley at kes25-at-buffalo.edu, or 716-645-0145

Sponsored by UB College of Arts and Sciences, UB Department of Philosophy, UB Philosophy Hourani Fund, and the Timnick Chair in Humanities at Michigan State University.