Why Climate Breakdown Matters (Why Philosophy Matters)

"Climate change and the destruction of the earth is the most urgent issue of our time. We are hurtling towards the end of civilisation as we know it. With an unflinching honest approach, Rupert Read asks us to face up to the fate of the planet. This is a book for anyone who wants their philosophy to deal with reality and their climate concern to be more than a displacement activity. As people come together to mourn the loss of the planet, we have the opportunity to create a grounded, hopeful response. This meaningful hopefulness looks to the new communities created around climate activism. Together, our collective mourning enables us to become human in ways previously unknown. Why Climate Breakdown Matters is a practical guide on how to be a radical, responsible climate activist."-- Provided by publisher Cover Praise Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Contents Preface Prologue: The Attention-shift from Climate to Corona – and Back Again? Introduction: On Climate, Ecological and Societal Breakdown A place to start Times when we almost destroyed the world What this chapter introduces to you Why does this book matter? Climate is only the canary in the coalmine: On the need for eco-logical thinking How did we get to this pretty pass? On ‘soft’ denialism – and adaptation The will to face the truth confronting us On – and beyond – scientism and technophilia What is in this book 1 Just How Much do you Care About the Future of Humanity?1 Our most fundamental care How could the future matter as much as the present? Our loving care iterates down the generations Protecting our children collectively Objections An obstacle to ‘enoughism’: human health as, paradoxically, a ‘limit’ to limits to growth19 Looking forward . . . 2 Is Climate Breakdown a White Swan? The spectre haunting our world Climate science is to geo-engineering as genetics is to GM food Does ‘climate-attribution science’ remove the need for the precautionary principle? Human-triggered climate breakdown is a white swan Climate denial: Our common failure? Facing up to climate reality collectively 3 Is Th is Civilization Finished?1 The elephants in the room, charging towards us The failure of the Paris Agreement On those who deny planetary boundaries – on the ‘Left ’ as well as the ‘Right’11 Civilization and ‘civilization’ Three possible futures Towards a ‘successor civilization’ 4 The Great Gift of Community that (Climate) Disasters Can Give Us1 Disasters and their discontents, from Hobbes to the Anthropocene Disaster as gift ? Disaster experience, and Disaster Studies Anti-Hobbes A potential objection: am I ignoring those already living everyday ‘disaster’? Concluding remarks: The wake-up call(s) 5 How Climate Grief May Yet be the Making of Us The personal is philosophical A philosophy of grief Grief beyond liberal individualism Grief is living with a rip in the fabric of the lived world Climate grief as living with an ongoing rip in the fabric of our shared world The coming vast crisis of mental ill-health In this crisis, we need love – and (that means) grief 6 Can We Understand Cetacean Society? Can We Change Ourselves? Individuals or in-dividual? The enduring relevance of Peter Winch Understanding a cetacean society The cultures of social whales and dolphins From a distance, of the right kind An anthropomorphic rhetoric? Being ‘internally related’ to ‘others’25 Human society as non-understandable The right to believe in ourselves 7 How to Live in Truth Today No guarantees Seven ways to do what we need to Vulnerability – and vision Are there any precedents for what we need to do? The case of the Byzantine Empire Why does climate breakdown matter? We are the light in the tunnel The whales might inherit the Earth The politics of paradox Notes Bibliography Index "Climate change and the destruction of the earth is the most urgent issue of our time. We are hurtling towards the end of civilization as we know it. With an unflinching honest approach, Rupert Read asks us to face up to the fate of the planet. This is a book for anyone who wants their philosophy to deal with reality and their climate concern to be more than a displacement activity. As people come together to mourn the loss of the planet, we have the opportunity to create a grounded, hopeful response. This meaningful hopefulness looks to the new communities created around climate activism. Together, our collective mourning enables us to become human in ways previously unknown. Why Climate Breakdown Matters is a practical guide on how to be a radical, responsible climate activist."-- Provided by publisher