Aesthetic Consolation in an Age of Extinction

Abstract

In light of the environmental pressure humans are currently placing on the biosphere, there is overwhelming evidence to think that we have entered the early stages of a major extinction event. Indeed, some scientists worry this extinction event will be so bad as to constitute Earth’s sixth mass extinction. Our most pressing responsibility as a species is to do everything in our power to prevent such an extinction from occurring. But the question I wish to pursue here is, what should our philosophical response be if we fail? Drawing on George Harris’ account of tragic loss, I argue that, while we should rightly consider an anthropogenic extinction a moral tragedy and cause for grief, we should not consider it cause for despair. The reason is that we can take aesthetic consolation from the knowledge that life will almost certainly recover and re-diversify in new and unpredictable ways. Adam Smith’s insights into the beauty and sublimity of systems is particularly relevant in showing how Earth’s biosphere remains a bearer of aesthetic value, even in the face of the (temporary, though long-term) damage we are causing it.