Climate Change and The Limits of Narrative
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Notre Dame faculty and graduate students are invited to join the Kellogg Institute for the introductory session of a workshop refining Kellogg Faculty Fellow Roy Scranton's draft book project "Ethical Pessimism: Climate Change and the Limits of Narrative."
This first session will include a welcome and introduction to the project by the author, followed by a review and critique of the introduction of the book and the first chapter, "Climate Change and The Limits of Narrative," by panelists Naomi Oreskes (Harvard University) and Robert Goulding (University of Notre Dame). These draft pages will be provided to those who register for this event with the below link.
Panelists
Naomi Oreskes, Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science, Harvard University
Robert Goulding, Associate Professor, Program of Liberal Studies, Director, Reilly Center
About the Book Project
According to best estimates, Earth will soon cross the 2°C warming redline scientists have warned against, and will likely to hit 4°C above pre-industrial temperatures by 2100. Meanwhile, we must cope with a concatenation of ecological and social crises so vast, complex, and contrary to our expectations that we struggle to even make sense of them. In this project, "Ethical Pessimism: Climate Change and the Limits of Narrative," Roy Scranton argues that our predicament not only exceeds our capacities to address it, but transcends our comprehension. The paradigmatic civilizational narrative upon which we depend for coherent meaning – the myth of progress – can no longer guide effective action in a changing world. Working through a range of epistemic and disciplinary approaches, including philosophy, critical Black studies, science communications, and anthropology, the manuscript argues that if we want to have any hope for human flourishing under such conditions, it must be grounded in ethical pessimism.
