Reason in a dark time : why the struggle against climate change failed--and what it means for our future

Reason in a dark time Why the struggle against climate change failed--and what it means for our future

Dale Jamieson

Book - 2014

From the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Conference there was a concerted international effort to stop climate change. Yet greenhouse gas emissions increased, atmospheric concentrations grew, and global warming became an observable fact of life. In this book, the author explains what climate change is, why we have failed to stop it, and why it still matters what we do. Centered in philosophy, the volume also treats the scientific, historical, economic, and political dimensions of climate change. Our failure to prevent or even to respond significantly to climate change, the author argues, reflects the impoverishment of our systems of practical reason, the paralysis of our politics, and the limits of our cognitive and aff...ective capacities. The climate change that is underway is remaking the world in such a way that familiar comforts, places, and ways of life will disappear in years or decades rather than centuries. Climate change also threatens our sense of meaning, since it is difficult to believe that our individual actions matter. The challenges that climate change presents go beyond the resources of common sense morality; it can be hard to view such everyday acts as driving and flying as presenting moral problems. Yet there is much that we can do to slow climate change, to adapt to it and restore a sense of agency while living meaningful lives in a changing world.--From publisher's website.

Saved in:
Place a Hold Save to List Email this

2nd Floor Show me where

363.73874/Jamieson
1 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
2nd Floor 363.73874/Jamieson Checked In
Subjects
Global warming.
Environmental ethics.
Human ecology.
Published
Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press [2014]
©2014
Language
English
Main Author
Dale Jamieson (-)
Physical Description
xvi, 266 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9780199337668
  • Preface
  • Abbreviations
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. The Nature of the Problem
  • 2.1. The Development of Climate Science
  • 2.2. Climate Change as a Public Issue
  • 2.3. The Age of Climate Diplomacy
  • 2.4. Concluding Remarks
  • 3. Obstacles to Action
  • 3.1. Scientific Ignorance
  • 3.2. Politicizing Science
  • 3.3. Facts and Values
  • 3.4. The Science/Policy Interface
  • 3.5. Organized Denial
  • 3.6. Partisanship
  • 3.7. Political Institutions
  • 3.8. The Hardest Problem
  • 3.9. Concluding Remarks
  • 4. The Limits of Economics
  • 4.1. Economics and Climate Change
  • 4.2. The Stern Review and Its Critics
  • 4.3. Discounting
  • 4.4. Further Problems
  • 4.5. State of the Discussion
  • 4.6. Concluding Remarks
  • 5. The Frontiers of Ethics
  • 5.1. The Domain of Concern
  • 5.2. Responsibility and Harm
  • 5.3. Fault Liability
  • 5.4. Human Rights and Domination
  • 5.5. Differences That Matter
  • 5.6. Revising Morality
  • 5.7. Concluding Remarks
  • 6. Living with Climate Change
  • 6.1. Life in the Anthropocene
  • 6.2. It Doesn't Matter What I Do
  • 6.3. It's Not the Meat, It's the Motion
  • 6.4. Ethics for the Anthropocene
  • 6.5. Respect for Nature
  • 6.6. Global Justice
  • 6.7. Concluding Remarks
  • 7. Politics, Policy, and the Road Ahead
  • 7.1. The Rectification of Names
  • 7.2. Adaptation: The Neglected Option?
  • 7.3. Why We Need More Than Adaptation
  • 7.4. The Category Formerly Known as Geoengineering
  • 7.5. The Way Forward
  • 7.6. Concluding Remarks
  • References
  • Index
Review by Choice Review

When this reviewer began reading Reason in a Dark Time, he was impressed by the thorough treatment of the political and social history of climate change. However, as he continued reading, he began to understand that this is more a story of social ethics than it is a summation of the past 40 years of determining what to do about the effects that anthropogenic emissions have had and continue to have on global climate. Jamieson (NYU; Ethics and the Environment, CH, Oct'08, 46-0811) deftly introduces readers to the difficulties, triumphs, setbacks, and damning inaction that defines the climate debate. He then carefully explains that the problem is much more than debates, hand-wringing, and conflicts of interests. He describes a moral failure of the global community, scientists, politicians, and the general public. His book leaves one feeling that democracy, which depends on an engaged and educated citizenry, is doomed to failure, at least by 21st-century standards. Though there is some room for hope, Jamieson takes a pragmatic view and paints a rather dark picture. Forget learning about the science of climate change; read this book to learn about society and perhaps do a little bit of soul-searching. --Michael Schaab, Maine Maritime Academy

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review

If one listens to popularity-hungry politicians and optimistic environmentalists, there is still ample hope for humanity to halt global warming in its tracks. Yet a growing number of atmospheric scientists are saying it's already too late and the real debate now is over how the earth's denizens can adapt. Jamieson, an environmental studies and philosophy professor at New York University, falls squarely in the latter camp, pointing out that, despite a last-ditch, internationally attended Copenhagen Climate Conference in 2009, worldwide greenhouse-gas emissions have only increased. Since, in his view, catastrophic ecological damage is a foregone conclusion, Jamieson here narrows the issues down to moral and economic concerns. One of his key arguments involves getting us all to acknowledge both our personal responsibility in creating this global crisis and our collective ability to still make a difference. Although not intended as a rallying cry for arresting climate change, Jamieson's work is nonetheless an invaluable contribution to the dialogue about how to minimize the inevitable social and environmental devastation that looms large in our future.--Hays, Carl Copyright 2014 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review

Jamieson (environmental studies, philosophy, law, New York Univ.; Ethics and the Environment: An Introduction) opens by claiming that he didn't write this book to save the earth, but, unfortunately, it isn't clear why he did write it. The science of climate change is evident to anyone who has ever been interested in a greenhouse or in what killed off the dinosaurs or brought about the Ice Age. The politics of climate change, too, are obvious-large corporations built on greenhouse gas-emitting fuels lobby to maintain the status quo in the industrialized nations of the world, while burgeoning nations look to these same fuels because of their economic value. Jamieson's most substantial contribution to the discussion of climate change comes in chapter five, in which he concludes that common sense morality is insufficient to handle the slow-moving problem of climate change. Regrettably, he turns a blind eye to political philosophy that has long had solutions to "prisoner's dilemma" situations like the problem of climate change. Verdict Rather than revise our moral intuitions, as the author suggests, we ought to act on our moral beliefs and systematically remove from power those whose negligence or corruption directly or indirectly threatens our survival. Not recommended.-William Simkulet, Andover, KS (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Similar Items