Are We Risking Too Much the Sustainability of the Anthropocene Technosphere?

João Ribeiro Mendes

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Chapter 5 Are We Risking Too Much the Sustainability of the Anthropocene Technosphere?

In: Current Challenges of Environmental Philosophy

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João Ribeiro Mendes

João Ribeiro Mendes
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 143–172

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004679955_007

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Abstract

One of the most remarkable facts of our time is that our species inhabits a planetary Technosphere of its own making, something entirely new in its (natural and cultural) history. This has allowed our species to acquire unprecedented power over the Earth’s course and opened a new chapter in geohistory called the Anthropocene. The acquisition of this power has also made us aware of the consequences of its use and the dangers of its misuse. Thus, a reflection was started on the current functioning of the Technosphere and its evolutionary trajectory, focusing on the risks of its weakening, collapse or disappearance in the short (proceeding decades) to the medium term (coming centuries). This chapter intends to be a contribution to this reflection. In the first part, the vision of the Technosphere of the American geologist Peter Haff is analyzed, not only because he, originally, conceptualized it, but also because he remains the main theorist. In the second part, it is argued that, after their coeval historical emergence, the Technosphere and the Anthropocene remained co-dependent and co-evolutionary realities, and some implications are drawn regarding the symbiotic relationship that has been established between them. The third part examines the serious problem facing the Technosphere in relation to its sustainability, arising from, so-called, Anthropocene risks. The fourth part revisits the idea proposed 20 years ago for the creation of the so-called “Geoscope of Sustainability” as a more sustainable control and governance instrument for the Anthropocene Technosphere.

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Current Challenges of Environmental Philosophy

Series: New Research in the History of Western Philosophy, Volume: 3

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004679955

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 21 Aug 2023

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- Biology
  - Earth Sciences
- Philosophy
  - Philosophy of Science
  - Social & Political Philosophy

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Chapter 5 Are We Risking Too Much the Sustainability of the Anthropocene Technosphere?

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Current Challenges of Environmental Philosophy

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