Abstract
AbstractBecause climate change can be seen as the blind spot of contemporary philosophy of technology, while the destructive side effects of technological progress are no longer deniable, this article reflects on the role of technologies in the constitution of the (post)Anthropocene world. Our first hypothesis is that humanity is not the primary agent involved in world-production, but concrete technologies. Our second hypothesis is that technological inventions at an ontic level have an ontological impact and constitutes world. As we object to classical philosophers of technology like Ihde and Heidegger, we will sketch the progressive contribution of our conceptuality to understand the role of technology in the Anthropocene world. Our third hypothesis is that technology has emancipatory potential and in this respect, can inaugurate a post-Anthropocene World. We consider these three hypotheses to develop a philosophical account of the ontology of technology beyond an abstract and deterministic understanding. This concept enables us to philosophically reflect on the role of technology in the Anthropocene World in general, and its contribution to the transition to the post-Anthropocene World in particular.
Highlights
The world-historical significance of climate change consists in the fact that it disrupts the climate stability of our being-in-the-world in the Holocene—i.e. the geological era of the last 11.700 years—and inaugurates a new geological era of climate instability; the Anthropocene World
Our analysis in the previous section opens a new perspective on the emergence of the Anthropocene world in which we live today, the prospects of a post-Anthropocene world and the role of humanity in this process
We introduced the world-historical significance of climate change, as it disrupts the relative stability of our being-in-the-world in the Holocene and inaugurates a geological era of relative instability in the Anthropocene, the previous section provides good reasons to argue for the ontological impact of the invention of the steam engine on the constitution of the Anthropocene world; the invention of the steam engine has world-historical significance, as its invention on an ontic level has an ontological impact on the constitution of the world at an ontological level
Summary
The world-historical significance of climate change consists in the fact that it disrupts the climate stability of our being-in-the-world in the Holocene—i.e. the geological era of the last 11.700 years—and inaugurates a new geological era of climate instability; the Anthropocene World. Because our technological societies are using significant more natural resources the planetary ecosystem can provide, a new phase in the Anthropocene is called for in which technology—we can think of a sulfuric acid shield that is released into the atmosphere by humans to reflect sun rays, or by mounting large mirrors on satellites—ensures the sustainability of Earth’s life-support system for human and non-human life on Earth In this regard, the Anthropocene World does describe the time of climate change as side effect of technoscientific progress, and calls for the production of a new post-Anthropocene World in which humanity takes responsibility for the sustainability of the life support systems of planet Earth. This concept enables us to philosophically reflect on the role of technology in the Anthropocene World in general, and its contribution to the transition to the post-Anthropocene World in particular
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