What Is the Anthropocene? Philosophical Perspectives

Date: Friday, March 8
Time: 7 pm
Location: The Refinery, Emmanuel Anglican Church, 607 Dufferin Ave., Saskatoon

About this event

A talk by Dr. Pierre-Francois Noppen (PhD), faculty member in the Department of Philosophy

In a scientific note published in 2000, Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer proposed that a new marker be added to the geologic calendar: the Anthropocene. While the post-glacial epoch, the Holocene, was characterized by the relative stability of Earth's systems, they argued that the impact of anthropogenic activity on our planet's systems now warranted the introduction of a new geologic epoch. As we know, their proposal has since sparked intense debates in the Earth science community. But their proposal was also to have a deep impact well beyond the confines of that community. Indeed, the concept of the Anthropocene seems to have acquired a life of its own. It has gained tremendous currency in the public and has been appropriated in a wide array of academic disciplines. So what does this concept actually mean? Should it be viewed as a properly geologic concept? Is the fate of this concept tied to its adoption in geology? What motivates its widespread appropriation? Are there reasons to worry about the bounds of its legitimate use? These are some of the questions I will examine in my talk.

Philosophy in the Community is a free lecture and discussion series sponsored by the USask Department of Philosophy. Learn more.

Info: emer.ohagan@usask.ca

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