Written both for general readers and college students, Dialogues on Climate Justice provides an engaging philosophical introduction to climate justice, and should be of interest to anyone wanting to think seriously about the climate crisis.
The story follows the life and conversations of Hope, a fictional protagonist whose life is shaped by a terrifyingly real problem: climate change. From the election of Donald Trump in 2016 until the 2060s, the book documents Hope’s discussions with a diverse cast of characters. As she ages, her conversations move from establishing the nature of the problem, to engaging with climate skepticism, to exploring her own climate responsibilities, through managing contentious international negotiations, to considering big technological fixes, and finally, as an older woman, to reflecting with her granddaughter on what one generation owes another. Following a philosophical tradition established by Plato more than two thousand years ago, these dialogues are not only philosophically substantive and carefully argued, but also distinctly human. The differing perspectives on display mirror those involved in real-world climate dialogues going on today.
Key Features:
- Written in an engaging dialogue form, which includes characterization, clear exchanges of ideas, and a compelling story arc
- Clearly organized to allow readers both in-depth consideration and rapid overviews of various topics
- Memorable examples that enable and encourage discussion inside and outside the classroom
- An Introduction to the book aimed at instructors, which includes helpful instructions for teaching the book and engaging student assignments
Foreword by Dale Jamieson
Introduction
Dialogue 1: Why Ethics?
Dialogue 2: Skepticisms
Dialogue 3: Individual Responsibility
Dialogue 4: International Justice
Dialogue 5: A Big Technological Fix?
Dialogue 6: Future
Biography
Stephen M. Gardiner is Professor of Philosophy and Ben Rabinowitz Professor of the Human Dimensions of the Environment at the University of Washington, Seattle. He is the author of A Perfect Moral Storm: The Ethical Tragedy of Climate Change (2011), and co-author of Debating Climate Ethics (2016). His edited books include The Ethics of "Geoengineering" the Global Climate (2020), The Oxford Handbook of Environmental Ethics (2016), and The Oxford Handbook of Intergenerational Ethics (2022).
Arthur R. Obst is a PhD Candidate at the University of Washington, Seattle, who has lived his whole life in the shadow of climate change, a force that has brought not only environmental crisis but a conceptual crisis for environmentalists. He is dedicating his scholarship to addressing both.
"There is so much to like in this book that it seems almost arbitrary to talk about one thing in particular, yet I can’t help myself. The decision to focus on a single character (the aptly named Hope) who moves through time and life-stages brings out brilliantly some of the personal challenges in living with climate change . . . . This book will not ‘save the world,’ for nothing can, and anyway it is us, not the world that most needs saving. What we can and should hope for is that this book makes us more like Hope."
Dale Jamieson, New York University
