Foredrag v Odin Lysaker

Ecological Sensibility

The Problem of Nature in Critical Theory

Odin Lysaker, Professor, University of Agder

Which role, if any, does nature play in Axel Honneth’s approach to Critical Theory? In this presentation, I claim that his anthropocentric thought implies a problematic reduction of nature, since Honneth never takes into account today’s climate change. Furthermore, given that critique of crisis, and hence transforming crisis into sustainable development, is characteristic of Critical Theory, I ask if Honneth is ‘critical enough’, since he never raises critique against the ecological crisis. However, by recovering what I take to be the early Honneth’s ‘biological insight’, I show that he can overcome his anthropocentrism, and thus contribute to the climate discourse in the era of the Anthropocene.

Arr.: Forskningsgruppen i Miljøfilosofi og IFF/Forskningsseminaret