1st Edition

Green Leviathan or the Poetics of Political Liberty Navigating Freedom in the Age of Climate Change and Artificial Intelligence

By Mark Coeckelbergh Copyright 2021
    150 Pages 7 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    150 Pages 7 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This book discusses the problem of freedom and the limits of liberalism considering the challenges of governing climate change and artificial intelligence (AI). It mobilizes resources from political philosophy to make an original argument about the future of technology and the environment.

    Can artificial intelligence save the planet? And does that mean we will have to give up our political freedom? Stretching the meaning of freedom but steering away from authoritarian options, this book proposes that, next to using other principles such as justice and equality and taking collective action and cooperating at a global level, we adopt a positive and relational conception of freedom that creates better conditions for human and non-human flourishing. In contrast to easy libertarianism and arrogant techno-solutionism, this offers a less symptomatic treatment of the global crises we face and gives technologies such as AI a role in the gathering of a new, more inclusive political collective and the ongoing participative making of new common worlds.

    Written in a clear and accessible style, Green Leviathan or the Poetics of Political Liberty will appeal to researchers and students working in political philosophy, environmental philosophy, and the philosophy of technology.

    1. A Green Brave New World

    2. Leviathan Reloaded

    3. Big Data for the Grand Inquisitor

    4. Capabilities for Climate Survivors

    5. Invisible Hands in the Anthropocene

    6. Enlarging the Collective

    7. The Poetic-Political Project

    Biography

    Mark Coeckelbergh is Professor of Philosophy of Media and Technology at the Philosophy Department of the University of Vienna and former President of the Society for Philosophy & Technology. He has authored 14 books and numerous articles and is a member of advisory bodies such as the European Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on AI.

    "This book offers a unique and thorough examination of how AI can be used effectively to deal with the climate crisis while also preserving political freedom, doing so through a debate with the liberal tradition of political philosophy. It is required reading for anyone interested in both the political potentials and risks of AI in the emerging age of the Anthropocene."

    Pieter Lemmens, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    "As a work of applied political philosophy, this is undoubtedly a rich, important and satisfying volume that covers a great deal of ground in an engaging and highly intelligent way."

    Piers H.G. Stephens, Environmental Values