Overlooked Precursors to Anglophone Environmental Ethics: Francophone Existentialist Thinkers

Overlooked Precursors to Anglophone Environmental Ethics: Francophone Existentialist Thinkers

French

Potter, Jacob

Wood, Christian (Mentor)

French

Modern environmental ethics pulls heavily from anglophone thought and literature. However, documents like the Brundtland Report, which drive our environmental decision making, have connections to French existentialism. Thinkers like Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre argued that each individual is responsible for every consequence of their actions, which leads to a more holistic approach to decision making. Due to their historical context, texts like The Ethics of Ambiguity and The Wall focus on personal freedom after a period of fascism instead of discussing environmentalism. However, many of the same ideas translate to modern ethical dilemmas we face in our relations with the environment. One of these key challenges is how to assign responsibility for our effects on the environment, like climate change. Perhaps, an environmental existentialist framework would give us a clear answer; each individual is responsible for all of their actions. This presentation will be in French.