Abstract
A philosophical situation: democratic capitalism, the ecological crisis, and the issue of choice
Highlights
In this paper, I collate views from several critical thinkers for the central claim that the political economy of democratic capitalism is problematised by the presence of a closed capitalist core of a presumably open democratic system
In the context of this paper, democratic capitalism denotes a political economy with economic growth being a central defining feature, the presence of which excludes the possibility of curbing economic growth
The question of what to do in the context of the ecological crisis, a crisis propelled by an unstoppable political economy addicted to economic growth, presents individuals and groups of people with a real dilemma of choice: substantial alternative choices, ones that are incommensurable with the logic of the reigning economic and political powers, must be made if the ecological crisis and its causes are to be addressed, yet the democratic capitalist system renders such choices futile
Summary
I collate views from several critical thinkers for the central claim that the political economy of democratic capitalism is problematised by the presence of a closed capitalist core of a presumably open democratic system. I charge philosophers with the task of responding to the ecological situation and its causes, by considering ‘choices’, or ways of thinking and ways of living, that are not commensurable within the ‘logic’ of homogenised (and homogenising) democratic capitalism. These kinds of incommensurable ‘alternatives’ provide the other parts of a philosophical situation as described by Badiou. It is to this end that permaculture is offered as an exemplary part of a philosophical situation
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