Online Talk by Graham Parkes on Ancient Chinese Philosophy and the Climate Crisis

null, Graham Parkes

On 23 November between 16:00 and 17:30 CET, Graham Parkes (University of Vienna, Austria) will give a talk entitled Treating Humanity’s Insanity. Becoming Truly Human within Planetary Boundaries at the University of Verona (Italy).

To receive the Zoom link, please contact Laura Langone at [email protected] 

Abstract

Why the extreme term ‘insanity’? Well, the way that we in the developed countries are currently living is beginning to render the planet uninhabitable, through the impact of our lifestyle on the climate and the biosphere. This presentation examines the roots of this insanity and proposes some ways of treating it. We know how risky global situation is thanks to the idea of ‘planetary boundaries’, elaborated by some of the world’s top climate and Earth System scientists. For nine of Earth’s subsystems they have identified a range of thresholds beyond which human pressure could trigger abrupt changes that would tip the entire system into a state that’s distinctly inhospitable for human existence. Part of the problem is a prevalent idea of who we are as human beings. A right-wing libertarian (neoliberal) ideology has convinced many people that we are basically autonomous individuals at liberty to extract from the natural world whatever we need to satisfy our desires for material comfort, as assured by continued economic growth. A major factor behind our blindness to the severe risks of climate breakdown and the destruction of biosphere integrity is ‘the posthuman spectacle’. Our enthusiastic immersion in information technologies and social media tends to reinforce Cartesian ‘indivi-dualism’, keeping us narcotised in a virtual world of ‘representations’ and ignorant of the dangers of our physical situation. A more plausible and less destructive understanding of who we are regards us not as individuals but as relatives—related to other humans and myriad other beings on which we depend. Indigenous philosophies from numerous cultures share this kind of understanding, but for pragmatic reasons we do well to draw from the ancient Chinese philosophical tradition to heal our indivi-dualist derangement. While revising our self-understanding to a saner mode, we can be making major changes in our social, political, and economic institutions, which would allow us to avoid the worst and live more fully human lives.