Although a scientist, I'd like to see more work being done along the lines Prof. Steve Gardiner has mentioned. One "philosopher" who has addressed the geo-engineering issue considerably is Clive Hamilton from the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, Canberra, Australia.; here is one example of his work: http://www.clivehamilton.net.au/cms/media/ethical_foundations_of_climate_engineering.pdf . Some of Clive's comments echo the following statement from Albert Einstein: "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." At the Planet Under Pressure Conference two weeks ago, there was a session on Going Beyond the Current Economic Paradigm, and I have attached a powerpoint presentation from that session (after receiving permission from its author, Bhagirath Behera, to post to this group). The presentation addresses the climate debacle in general and not GE per se. It is not about new insights but perhaps a reminder of old insights and speaks to the "common core" that we all share (that gives meaning to the phase "moral compass"). Enjoy, David Mitchell Associate Research Professor Desert Research Institute Division of Atmospheric Sciences 2215 Raggio Parkway Reno, Nevada, USA
----- Original Message ----- From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Date: Monday, April 9, 2012 2:49 Subject: Re: [ISEE-L] [geo] Ethics of Geoengineering (anything new?) To: geoengineering <[email protected]> > Dear Ken, > > Like most of the others, I'm not much worried about whether or not > geoengineering is "fundamentally new" in some technical sense. > However, I would say that, much as we may love them, it is hard to > argue that Aristotle, Hume, Kant, et al., have "already considered" > the issues, if this is supposed to mean that they have *adequately > addressed* the relevant questions. In my view, climate > change brings > together a large number of theoretical questions that we are not > currently well equipped to handle - in areas such as global justice, > intergenerational ethics, humanity's relationship to nature, > scientific uncertainty, contingent persons, etc. Some sign > of this > comes with the difficulties faced by standard theories such as > economic CBA, utilitarianism, contractarianism, and so on. > So, there > is lots of work to do. > > In general, my view is that there is an exciting emerging literature > on these matters. The Montana bibliography is a very useful > resource. Some of my own position is outlined in my recent > book, A > Perfect Moral Storm: The Ethical Challenge of Climate Change (Oxford, > 2011), which includes a chapter on geoengineering. I've > also written > on the values of the Royal Society report on geoengineering, on Dale > Jamieson's classic piece about whether climate change challenges our > ethical concepts (my 'Is No One Responsible for Global Environmental > Tragedy?'), and on whether Rawls has the theoretical resources > to deal > with climate change. These papers (and others) are > available at: > http://www.phil.washington.edu/POV/GardinerFormalPublicationList.htm > I'd also recommend Allen Thompson and Jeremy Bendik-Keymer's new MIT > collection on the ethics of adaptation (including material on > ecological restoration and on geoengineering). > > Best wishes, > > Steve > > Stephen Gardiner > Ben Rabinowitz Endowed Professor of the Human Dimensions of the > Environment > University of Washington, Seattle > > (Currently Visiting Fellow at the Smith School of Enterprise and the > Environment, Oxford University) > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the > Google Groups "geoengineering" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] more options, > visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en.
