Can Philosophy Help Us Overcome Climate Crisis?
The climate crisis has drawn the attention of scientists, legislators, policymakers and national and supra-national organisations alike. The situation is so alarming that it has compelled states, governments and communities across the world to take urgent measures. These measures can be broadly summed up in the category of ‘mitigation and adaptation’. What exactly does ‘mitigation and adaptation’ mean and what kind of understanding of climate change does it reflect? Importantly, is this enough? We might be missing something foundational when it comes to overcoming the climate crisis. What exactly is that? Philosophy might have an answer.
In this talk, Bilal Zahoor will briefly lay out what climate crisis is. Is this just another crisis? Is this an environmental crisis or a social-political-ontological crisis? He will then take a critical look at the responses to this crisis proposed by the existing international order. Lastly, he will summarise how philosophy, in conjunction with other thought systems, can help us understand and overcome the looming crisis.
This session will be joined by Aziz Ali Dad as a discussant.
About the speaker:
Bilal Zahoor is the editorial director of Folio Books, a Lahore-based independent publishing house. He teaches philosophy and ecology at the Department of Liberal Arts, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore. His research interests lie in the intersection of philosophy, ecology, technology and indigenous epistemologies. Zahoor is a member of Haqooq-e-Khalq Party, a grassroots anti-capitalist project in Pakistan. He tweets at @BilalZahuur