CFP: /Philosophies/ Special Issue: Philosophy and Environmental Crisis

Dear Colleagues,

In light of an unprecendented global environmental crisis, innovative ways of thinking and bold philosophical approaches are required to tackle this most pressing of contemporary problems. At both academic and quotidian levels, the degree of change that has already happened has not yet been fully grapsed: the world that humanity is facing in the twenty-first century is unlike anything experienced in the past. In addition to the notions of dwelling and ecology, even such apparently simple terms as water, earth, or air no longer correspond to their long-standing cultural and cognitive framing. Water, for example, is—far from the transparent and pure, life-giving liquid substance one usually has in mind—a dangerous mix of chemicals and heavy metals, industrial runoff, and microplastics. That is why it is not enough to apply already-existing philosophies to the current situation, merely extending their explanatory scope. What is needed, rather, is a philosophical re-foundation, seeking not the indubitable certainties of the self and reality but a mode of thinking that emerges from and circles back to its environmental background.

This Special Issue of Philosophies on “Philosophy and Environmental Crisis” invites contributions on topics related to, though not limited to, catastrophic climate change; theories and practices in energy; ecology and economy; biodiversity loss and the sixth mass extinction; climate refugees; survivalism, extinction, and nihilism; rethinking the elements (earth, air, water, etc.); and environmental ethics and responsibility. The emphasis should be placed on raising the right questions, formulating ecological problems in stark new ways, and shifting the very frame of debates around the environment, rather than on readymade theories and solutions.

Prof. Michael Marder
Guest Editor

Keywords

• environmental crisis
• ecology
• economy
• energy
• biodiversity
• climate change
• climate refugees
• nihilism
• responsibility

Please contact Special Issue Editor Viktor Ćirković at [email protected] for further information.

Philosophies (ISSN 2409-9287, https://www.mdpi.com/journal/philosophies) is an international peer-reviewed open access journal. The journal has recently been indexed into Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) in Web of Science.

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