Why save the planet?

Brooks, Thom

Abstract

Political philosophers are divided about how best to respond to climate change, but united in viewing climate change as a problem that can be solved permanently if only a favoured proposal were adopted. Philosophers claim to be able to save the world, if only political leaders took their advice. This is a serious concern because political philosophers misunderstand the kind of problem that climate change presents. I argue that climate change is not a problem to be solved, but a problem to be managed, where changes may occur irrespective of the policies we choose. The result is that policy proposals by political philosophers fail to achieve their stated aims largely because they mischaracterise the kind of problem they attempt to handle. Climate change is a problem that cannot go away no matter our efforts, and so no final end-state solution is possible, such as a world without climate change. This leads us to consider fundamental questions about the importance of why we should save the planet where our success may be beyond our reach.

Citation

Brooks, T. (2015). Why save the planet?. In T. Brooks (Ed.), Current Controversies in Political Philosophy (138-147)

• Publication Date: Jul 3, 2015
• Deposit Date: Feb 22, 2025
• Pages: 138-147
• Book Title: Current Controversies in Political Philosophy
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3535094