CFP: "Philosophies" Special Issue: More-than-Human Ethics: Rethinking Nature, Dwelling, and Responsibility

This Special Issue, “More-than-Human Ethics: Rethinking Nature, Dwelling, and Responsibility”, aims to rethink our ethical approach in the context of environmental philosophy, drawing on the concepts of responsibility and dwelling. In fact, if our dwelling in the age of ecological crisis is essentially co-dwelling with other living beings (and not only with other human beings), ethics should be reconfigured. So, the starting point for this Special Issue is that it is possible to conceive of a “more-than-human” ethic and responsibility. Such ethics and responsibility are “more-than-human”, on the one hand, because they have, as their ultimate reference point, Nature as a whole (and no longer human beings); on the other hand, because they arise within the relationship with human and non-human otherness at once. The fundamental concern of this Special Issue, therefore, is not so much to understand how to resolve certain ethical dilemmas in the ecological sphere by applying pre-established principles but, rather, to understand how to dwell on the Earth with other living beings. The ethical question thus essentially turns into the issue of dwelling: our ethos is the way we dwell our oikos (home). In this sense, the focus of this Special Issue will not primarily be ethical but, rather, ontological, cosmological, anthropological, and cultural. The various papers should help the reader understand the basis for developing an environmental ethics oriented toward otherness.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Co-dwelling, ecology, and (sub)cultures;
• What is a home in the age of the ecological crisis?;
• Respect, love, or responsibility towards other living beings?;
• Ethical paradigms consistent with more-than-human ethics;
• Worldviews consistent with a more-than-human ethics;
• Eco-theology and eco-religions as a basis for a more-than-human ethics;
• Anthropologies (philosophies) consistent with an ethics oriented towards ecological otherness.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of about 200 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor ([email protected]) or to the Philosophies Editorial Office ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

We look forward to receiving your insightful contributions and to advancing the dialogue on more-than-human ethics together.

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Philosophies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.