What’s the Problem with Geo-engineering?

Mittiga, Ross

Abstract

Many feel a sense of aversion and tragedy about proposals for engineering the climate. Precautionary concerns only partly explain these feelings. For a fuller understanding, we need a thicker conception of the values and ends of political society than “neutralitarian” political theories offer. To this end, I examine how Buddhist and Greek notions of temperance, justice, and freedom bear on the question of geo-engineering. My intention is not to pronounce on whether geo-engineering is morally “right” or “wrong,” but to highlight reasons for thinking it unattractive in a broader sense, thereby strengthening the case for exhausting conventional emissions-reductions options.

Citation

Mittiga, R. (2019). What’s the Problem with Geo-engineering?. Social Theory and Practice, 45(3), 471-499. https://doi.org/10.5840/soctheorpract201992768

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 3, 2019
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Dec 19, 2024
• Print ISSN: 0037-802X
• Publisher: Philosophy Documentation Center
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 45
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 471-499
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5840/soctheorpract201992768
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5840/soctheorpract201992768