Michel Bourban (Warwick University): Eco-anxiety and responsibility for future generations

Climate Change and Future Generations - Public Ethics International Seminars: a series of seminars organised in collaboration between the Public Ethics Research Group of the DIRPOLIS Institute and the Labont (Center for Ontology) of the University of Turin. These seminars are part of the All4Climate - Italy 2021 events, promoted by the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
Live streaming on Web-Ex platform.

Abstract

Just as John Rawls perceived the “fact of reasonable pluralism” as a permanent feature of democratic public culture, we can consider that the “fact of anxiety” has become a pervasive characteristic of life in the Anthropocene.  Global environmental changes such as anthropogenic mass extinction, climate change, and ozone depletion give rise to a specific form of anxiety: “eco-anxiety.”  This presentation draws the contours of the notion of eco-anxiety and suggests possible remedies to it. The objective is to identify key features of eco-anxiety and think about its normative implications in terms of responsibility for young people and future generations.