Leveraging Philosophy to Fight Climate Change

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With global ramifications, climate change poses an evident existential risk. Questions surrounding sustainability, capitalism, and ethics have grown increasingly relevant when approaching this problem. As we innovate and garner new solutions, we must also grow more aware of others' perspectives and more skeptical of our own. Luckily, philosophy provides a rubric for us to address climate change.

While the necessity of philosophy in tackling climate change can come off as frivolous and absurd, we are all entangled in philosophy one way or another. John Maynard Keynes, a revolutionary English macroeconomist, once said that those "who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence are usually the slave of some defunct economist" - or philosopher (MIT News). Whether we choose to question them or not, we still hold others' world views tightly to our chests when making our own decisions. Rather than remain blind to them, perhaps we can challenge or explore them to improve our decision-making skills or reorient our moral compasses.

Acquiring these skills is crucial to spotting the interconnectivity between seemingly distant issues. For instance, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic are intimately related when you start examining their multiplier effects. Just as the virus spreads as more people get affected, climate change exacerbates when affected areas lack the means to instill sustainable practices. Moreover, climate change and the pandemic feed into one another as environmental degradation gives rise to viral pandemics (Behavioural and Social Sciences). 

There are so many other interesting questions that can be drawn from philosophical inquiry. During an interview with Professor Kieran Setiya, a professor of philosophy within the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS), Setiya discussed an ongoing issue of the global north producing the majority of the emissions that ruins countries in the global south. When it came to restorative justice, Setiya posed the question, "Do our obligations now depend on the extent of our contribution to the problem?" (MIT News). Countries ought to be held accountable for their actions and stop using the looming problem of climate change to evade confrontation. The narrative of climate action must be a tandem of confronting our past and pioneering our future because this is the time in history that calls for it.

Upon commenting on his class, Setiya stated, "the value of philosophy is partly instrumental, a tool for innovation, creativity, and civic engagement" (MIT News). I would also like to add that philosophy gives us the ability to slow down amidst our busy lives and delve into the questions that poke at the meaning of our lives as individuals and as a collective. 

Sources:

[1] https://news.mit.edu/2017/3-questions-kieran-setiya-how-philosophy-can-address-problem-climate-change-0208

[2]https://socialsciences.nature.com/posts/65939-what-can-philosophy-do-about-climate-action#:~:text=Philosophy%20can%20also%20teach%20us,value%20of%20human%20lives%20etc.