Thinking the nonhuman and the climate crisis: Early-stage research workshop in Prague, hosted by Interdisciplinary Lab for Bioethics at the Institute of Philosophy Academy of Sciences

Abstract

The Interdisciplinary Research Lab for Bioethics (IRLaB), based at the Department of Applied Philosophy and Ethics of the Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences, will be hosting a workshop for early-stage researchers working on the ethical issues of the nonhuman and the environmental crisis. In cooperation with IRLaB, the workshop is organised by Julita Skotarska, a PhD candidate from the Department of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Charles University. The event aims to present ongoing projects in Prague and its vicinity and deepen cooperation between different local academic institutions. It stems from recognition of the benefits that networking and learning from others working on similar subjects at similar stage could bring both individually and collectively. It will also enable greater integration of scholarly attention dedicated to the nonhuman and environmental crisis in the Czech Republic.

The workshop will be divided into three sessions. Starting with particular cases of the nonhuman, the themes will expand to address wider issues of the climate crisis. The first panel will concentrate on ethical attempts to embrace the nonhuman animals within contractualism and enactivism. The second panel will consider nonhuman agency, drawing on process philosophy and a particular case study of glaciers analysed through the lens of vital materialism. The last panel will identify some of the challenges in thinking about and relating to the climate crisis, examining attitudes towards it and the emotional states it triggers. It will be followed by a discussion on future events that could continue to address the issues raised during the workshop.