Friday, January 31 at 14:00 (mind the change in the habitual meeting time) in Centro Carlos Santamaria Room 4. The talk will be hybrid. If you want to participate, please contact m.aste.tb2@gmail.com
Abstract: References to what is good for the planet or harmful for the planet are ubiquitous in current discourse. However, it is generally unclear whether this attribution of normativity to our planet should be understood metaphorically, metonymically, or literally. Based on an understanding of the Earth as an interconnected, self-sustaining system, we claim that, indeed, different states of the Earth system can be considered “better” or “worse” relative to the organisation of the system as a whole.
To show this, first we identify the recent Quaternary period as a good state of the Earth system, based on three interrelated dimensions: (1) a cooler climate with enhanced thermodynamic capacity, which enables the Earth system to perform more work; (2) a slower, endogenous pacing of climate variation and (3) an increased biological complexity which culminates in the emergence of unprecedented capacities, such as symbolic reasoning and technological agency – which we take as a sign of the maturity of the system but whose role in planetary wellbeing is today an open, practical question.
Based on these three dimensions, we work towards a definition of Earthly well-being, which refers to the degree of autonomy of the planetary system, understood as its ability to perform work, self-regulate, and do things.
The current climatic crisis and the destabilization of planetary tipping points risk moving the system out of the boundaries of the Quaternary period. An organisational account of planetary (mal)function needs to refer both to the integrity of this particular climatic-geological regime and to the increased planetary autonomy that it sustains.