The goal of my dissertation is to bring the exacting account of relations found in Hegel's Science of Logic down to earth by bringing it to bear on global climate change. Chapter by chapter, I explain the complicated, abstract progression of the Logic through concrete examples from global climate change. I render this text more intelligible through clear, empirical illustrations, and bring complex philosophical ideas to life in a visceral, level-headed manner.
Not only do I show that global climate change can help us better understand Hegel's Science of Logic, I also show how Hegel's Logic helps us address climate change. I demonstrate how the philosophical concepts in the Science of Logic provide a framework for addressing features of climate change such as understanding how it works, assessing its risks, mitigating its impacts, and exploring policy options.
Climate change is also an ethical issue, so I endorse the following moral principle: human beings and other animals ought not to suffer and to die unnecessarily. "Unnecessarily" means when reasonable measures can be taken to prevent or ameliorate suffering and death. I argue that, since reasonable measures are available for mitigating climate change, there is no ethical justification for not preventing the risks posed by global warming.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-04052006-101234 |
| Date | 19 April 2006 |
| Creators | Borchers, Scott |
| Contributors | Dieter Sevin, Robert Ehman, Gregg Horowitz, David Wood, John Lachs |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-04052006-101234/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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