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1 - Facing the Anthropocene

from Part I - Assessing Our Situation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 October 2021

Norman Wirzba
Affiliation:
Duke University, North Carolina
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Summary

In recent years, Earth system scientists have acknowledged humanity’s Earth- and life-altering powers by calling our epoch the Anthropocene. This chapter explores the logic at work in this designation and argues that its roots go further back than the origins of industrialism and war capitalism in modernity (the Capitalocene). The essential and enduring issue is whether people can learn to live charitably within a world of limits. The origins of agriculture and the formation of city-states indicate what can be called a “thin Anthropocene” at work in the earliest civilizations evident around the globe. Examining this history, and the logic at work within it, enables us to see how people have thought about Earth and humanity’s place within it.

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Chapter
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This Sacred Life
Humanity's Place in a Wounded World
, pp. 3 - 33
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Facing the Anthropocene
  • Norman Wirzba, Duke University, North Carolina
  • Book: This Sacred Life
  • Online publication: 08 October 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009026185.003
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  • Facing the Anthropocene
  • Norman Wirzba, Duke University, North Carolina
  • Book: This Sacred Life
  • Online publication: 08 October 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009026185.003
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Facing the Anthropocene
  • Norman Wirzba, Duke University, North Carolina
  • Book: This Sacred Life
  • Online publication: 08 October 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009026185.003
Available formats
×