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Announcement Theme: Save the Planet! Subtitle: Climate Change and the Role of Intercultural Philosophy Type: Lecture Series Institution: Working Group 'Intercultural Philosophising: Theory and Practice', Viennese Society of Intercultural Philosophy (WiGiP), Institute Science and Art (IWK) and Department of Philosophy of the University of Vienna Location: Online Date: March – May 2021 __________________________________________________ Our earth and its life as we know it are endangered by a changing climate. Already today it is hot in regions where it was supposed to be cool, like in the Arctic, and unusually cool in regions where this is not typical, like in many Asian countries this year. A great number of scientists are increasingly alarmed: climatologists, biologists, geoscientists, historians, anthropologists, and more. But which role does intercultural philosophy play in the analysis of this situation, and which solutions does it have to offer? Moreover, can it contribute not only on theoretical level, but be also of practical help? Lastly, what have climate change and environmental protection to do with intercultural competence? Over the last years, several philosophers have worked on these questions. A few of them we invited to this lecture series. We want to get to know the perspectives of different countries and continents, but also of different classes, ethnicities, and religions. We want to explore their view on climate protection, their cultural approaches to the problem, if they think that human civilization and life on earth can be saved, and how this should be done. The lecture series takes place in summer and winter term 2021/2022. Coordination: Dr. Ľubomír Dunaj Assistant at the Department of Philosophy at Vienna University, WiGiP member Dr. Bianca Boteva-Richter ext. lecturer at the Department of Philosophy at Vienna University, deputy managing editor of Polylog, board member of WiGiP Lectures and dates in summer term 2021 Please register with: bianca.boteva-rich...@univie.ac.at 25.03.2021, 18:30 (6:30 pm CET) via zoom Graham Parkes (University of Hawai’i at Manoa) How to Avoid the End of Civilisation as We Know It – in Four Difficult Steps. Behind the Covid-19 pandemic looms a phenomenon that will cause far greater global misery unless we act to prevent it: a breakdown of the climate. By persisting in overheating the atmosphere we are on track to making so much of the planet uninhabitable that the consequent conflicts over land and water resources will put an end to civilisation as we know it. But catastrophe can be avoided if we take decisive action to slow global heating, and the faster we act the less misery we'll incur. A shady group of libertarian billionaires has been waging a covert 'war of ideas' against the rest of us, the upshot of which is three major obstructions to tackling the climate crisis. These are: the political clout of the fossil fuel industries and national oil companies, the power of the religious right (especially in the US but also in countries like Brazil), and the distractive forces of Big Tech, which divert our attention from the most urgent issue confronting humanity. But if philosophers strike back with better ideas, and activists accordingly act forcefully, we can circumvent these obstructions. However, we won't be able to cope with the climate crisis effectively without full cooperation from China (then from India, Brazil, and the rest). Our relations with the Chinese regime are going from bad to worse, but we could improve them considerably if we showed appreciation for the ancient Chinese philosophy that the current regime began advocating after Xi Jinping came to power. In fact these Confucian and Daoist ideas are perfectly suited for a reframing of our approach to the climate crisis. It's true that the regime isn't putting all of these ideas into practice, but if we propose cooperation on the basis of classical Chinese thought (and the corresponding ideas from the Western tradition), it would be hard for the Chinese Communist Party to say no without a catastrophic loss of face. 15.04. 2021, 18:30 (6:30 pm CET) via zoom Madalina Diaconu (Universität Wien) Die globale Wetter-WG. Dimensionen einer Ökoästhetik der Atmosphäre. Das Wetter gehört zu den allgemeinmenschlichen Erfahrungen, die im Alltag unreflektiert als schön oder hässlich bezeichnet werden. Aber gerade diese Selbstverständlichkeit ließ es bislang in der ästhetischen Theorie unbeachtet. Der Vortrag unterscheidet zwischen anthropologischen Konstanten der Wettererfahrung und -bewertung, ihrer kulturellen Bedingtheit und aktuellen transkulturellen Entwicklungen, hauptsächlich im Zusammenhang mit den Naturwissenschaften und den Medien. Daraufhin werden Vorschläge für eine Ökoästhetik der Atmosphäre gemacht: Außer ökophänomenologischer Ansätze, die z.T. indigene Naturphilosophien entdecken, soll die ursprünglich deutschorientierte Ästhetik der Atmosphäre weiterentwickelt, aber auch korrigiert werden durch den Begriff des ästhetischen Engagements, einen gemäßigten kognitivistischen Ansatz und den Einbezug anderer Denktraditionen. 06.05.2021, 18:30 (6:30 pm CET) via zoom Darrel Moellendorf (Goethe University, Frankfurt) The Anthropocene: A Realistic Utopia. Homo Sapiens survive by altering their environment. However, it was natural climatic alterations that characterized the Holocene epoch that allowed Homo Sapiens to settle into agriculture communities and not only to survive but eventually to thrive, producing great civilizations around the world. Progress in culture, science, and technology ensued. The Industrial Revolution ushered in unrivaled prosperity, evidence by various measures, and not only in today's industrial societies. Social and economic theorists foresaw the possibility of generalized prosperity. But massive impact on Earth systems was a side-effect of these developments. Increasingly now in the natural sciences, this impact is recognized as responsible for a new epoch, the Anthropocene. The disruptive character of the impact on Earth systems threatens not only the gains of the Industrial Revolution, but also the stability of planetary systems that have made human flourishing in the Holocene possible. The result could be a world even more divided between rich and poor. Indeed, there is the possibility ofvast regions of the planet consigned by disrupted planetary systems to misery, and contained by the global rich so as not to threaten their own prosperity. Because this would be a world of human-made misery and injustice, I refer to it as "the Misanthropocene." Avoiding the the Misanthropocene is one of the biggest challenges of our era. In order to motivate that effort positive visions can provide the basis of hope. Employing a phrase from John Ralws, I call these visions "Realistic Utopias." I explore the merits of two such Realistic Utopias, the Arcadian and the Promethean Anthropocene. 27.05.2021, (6:30 pm CET) via zoom Richard Sťahel (Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava) The Roots of Slovak Critical Environmentalism. The foundations of Slovak critical environmentalism laid with his work Juraj Kučírek (1955 – 2000), who is also the author of the first ever monograph focused on the philosophical reflection of the causes and possible consequences of the global environmental crisis in Slovakia. Kučírek pointed out the need to combine reflection on subsequent solution of the global environmental crisis with the problems of social inequality and oppression. In the context of the Slovak public discourse of the 1990s, this unconventional approach itself termed environmental anthroponcentrism. Thus, he took a critical stance on biocentric concepts, which gained a dominant position in the Slovak environmental discourse. His work was followed by Ivan Dubnička (1961 – 2014), who extended Kučírek´s position to include cultural, political, and religious aspects of the causes of environmental devastation. His research was focused on the relationships of sociobiological and sociocultural determinants that shape human behaviour as a result of biological and cultural evolution. Based on evolutionism and anthropocentrism, he developed the concept of environmental pragmatism. By combining the reflection of the environmental crisis with the reflection of socio-political inequalities and injustices and also sociocultural determinants, they both significantly exceeded the too narrowed direction of Slovak academic as well as political environmentalism, focused mainly on environmental ethics. This focus did not allow an adequate response to industrialism, consumerism and economism as the dominant narratives legitimizing the post-1989 regime. Thus, it significantly contributed to the marginalization of the Slovak Green Party as well as non-governmental environmental organizations in Slovak public discourse. The devastation of the environment has thus reached an unprecedented extent in the last 30 years, even though the green movement has been an important part of the opposition to the Communist former regime. For further information please see: http://wigip.org/arbeitskreis/ __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: https://interphil.polylog.org InterPhil List Archive: https://www.mail-archive.com/interphil@list.polylog.org/ __________________________________________________