Ye Olde Groupe's Anthropocene Anthology

This anthology takes a multidisciplinary approach to the proposed Anthropocene through the lenses of linguistics, ecology, conservation, anthropology, psychology, economics, and governmental relations.

1. In “Our Earth vs. the earth”, Derrick Linville approaches the Anthropocene from the study of linguistics. The audience of this project will gain a new appreciation for how the words and language we use to define the complicated Anthropocene directly affect central attitudes towards ecological sustainability. In other words, it is shown how the very way we describe the Earth can affect the view of humanity’s role within the environment. Linville’s argument for a strict linguistic understanding and defining of the Anthropocene sets the stage for understanding perceptions of wilderness in Wiley’s discussion.

2. In “Defining the Wild World” Chris Wiley examines cultural perceptions of what defines wilderness and why. He examines why individual perspectives lay the groundwork for how each person views the natural world. He also identifies the significance of defining wilderness and what role this definition plays in our understanding of the Anthropocene.

3. In “Intrinsic and Instrumental Value and its Ethical significance in the Anthropocene” Eric Scranton examines the ethical significance of intrinsic and instrumental value and the role it plays on conservation. He argues against the intrinsic value of non-human natural entities and supports new conservation.  Eric Scranton links his paper to the work of Derrick Linville, Chris Wiley, and Adam Stackable.

4. In “Conservation Science and the Anthropocene; a pattern we can learn from”, Adam Stackable looks at the field of Conservation Science. Stackable examines how this field has met difficulty being accepted or known by people. How examining Conservation Science and the controversy surrounding it could help humans learn what exactly the Anthropocene is, and how we should act upon learning of it. If the reader would like to follow up on Stackable’s work of how a religious and consumerist culture influences the anthropocene please read Nina Horne and Tyler Howe’s chapters concerning the anthropocene.

5. In “The Culture of Morality,”  Nina Horne examines the Anthropocene from an anthropological and psychological perspective by analyzing how cultures construct moral codes and how the facets of Western moral thought are ill-equipped to respond ethically to the Anthropocene.  Morality is an intricate concept based on learned behaviors and impulses and culture plays a vital role in developing a moral perspective. Ideas in this paper provide a cultural background for the activities of developed countries that are elaborated on in Tyler Howe’s article “Consideration of Ethics within Economic Analysis and Governance in the Anthropocene.”

6. In “The Anthropocene of Capitalism,” Taylor Petrucci touches on the niche construction of modern humans through a capitalist economic system, and its environmental and social consequences which have created the Anthropocene.  It will be explained how economies that we set up are created to amplify our niche construction, and how the current economic system that we live in, capitalism, has changed the ways in which we construct our niches while amplifying our niche construction, but has created major social and environmental problems.  My essay is linked to Tyler Howe’s chapter which talks about the social implications of climate change.

7. In “Consideration of Ethics within Economic Analysis and Governance in the Anthropocene,” Tyler Howe argues that the activities of developed countries that signify the Anthropocene are systematically increasing inequality and decreasing the well being of less developed nations across the world, and that this creates an ethical responsibility of those developed nations to shift their governance towards solutions that pursue human well being over capital gain. His paper draws on aspects of conservation with regards to climate change discussed in Adam Stackable’s chapter “Conservation Science and the Anthropocene; a pattern we can learn from,” the effects of linguistics on perception discussed in Derrick Linville’s chapter “Our Earth vs the earth,” and the effect of individualist thinking on ethical action discussed in Nina Horne’s chapter “The Culture of Morality.”

This anthology highlights the necessity to put humanity back in the context of nature, and encourages the reader to reassess the concepts of social justice and environmental ethics in the 21st century.