Kierkegaard in the Anthropocene

Hope, Philosophy, and the Climate Crisis

Bibliographic Data

ID3439660
AuthorsRuby Guyatt (0000-0002-8577-7921, University of Cambridge, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume11
Issue6
Pages279
Publication date2020-06-07
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel11060279
OpenAlexW3033842936
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited20

What is the role of hope in the climate crisis? What type of hope does this crisis demand? How can we sustain hope, in order to resist falling into fatalistic despair or paralyzing fear, whilst always guarding against hope giving way to happy complacency? This essay considers these urgent questions through a novel encounter between the Christian philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard, and recent eco-critical and empirical research on the affectivity of climate change mobilization. I begin by outlining the scope and aims of this essay (1st section), before introducing some affective dimensions of the climate crisis (2nd section), particularly the place of hope. Next, I examine Kierkegaard's account of hope, and explore the extent to which it corresponds to the type of hope needed in the climate crisis (3rd section). Here, I show that Kierkegaardian hope is a therapeutic practice which subverts the eco-anxiety and sense of helplessness that can otherwise prevent individuals from engaging in positive climate action. Finally, I compare Kierkegaard's theologically grounded hope with the hope held by climate change activists without religious faith (4th section). Participating in collective climate action anchors the individual's hopes in a larger, collective hope, which I suggest is sustainable in ways that are partially analogous to the therapeutic functions of Kierkegaard's Christian hope

Anthropocene · Climate change · Ecological crisis · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Faith · Fatalism · Sociology · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Optimism, Hope, and Well-being · Philosophy · Theological Perspectives and Practices · Ecology

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