Stephen Mark Gardiner

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Stephen Mark Gardiner (* 1967 in England ) is an American moral philosopher and professor at the University of Washington . The focus of his work is on climate ethics and virtue ethics . He has attracted more attention with his characterization of the ethical problems of climate change as Perfect Moral Storm and his book of the same name.

life and work

Gardiner was born in England in 1967 and grew up there. He studied at the University of Oxford and graduated in 1990 with a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. In 1993 he earned an MA in Philosophy from the University of Colorado . Subject of his dissertation, with which he obtained a Ph.D. in philosophy from Cornell University was Aristotle's virtue ethic . He then taught as a lecturer at the University of Canterbury , New Zealand, until 2004, and as an assistant professor at the University of Utah from 2003 to 2004 .

Gardiner has been Professor of Philosophy and the Human Dimension of the Environment at the University of Washington, Seattle , since July 2004 .

Gardiner's main research areas are environmental ethics , climate ethics, future generations and virtue ethics . His 2004 review of climate ethics, Ethics and Global Climate Change , is his most cited work and remains a leader.

The perfect moral storm

The so-called perfect storm from autumn 1991, which became particularly dangerous when three individual storms combined.

Gardiner coined the metaphor of the perfect moral storm represented by man-made climate change , first in an essay from 2006 and later in a book of the same name from 2011. The English phrase "A perfect storm" denotes the worst possible combination of unfortunate circumstances. Gardiner wanted to allude to Sebastian Junger's book “ The Perfect Storm ” with his picture “A Perfect Moral Storm”, literally “A perfect moral storm” . In it, Junge tells the story of a fishing boat that gets caught in three storms and sinks.

Gardiner sees mankind in a boat, which is facing one of the greatest challenges in its history with the problem of global warming. The characteristics of the problem, summarized by Gardiner in three moral storms, make it a daunting challenge to even approach a solution, even if there is clarity about the approach itself. According to Gardiner, the structure of the problem threatens to morally corrupt the will to act .

According to Gardiner, the problem of climate change is shaped by a global (spatial), a temporal (temporal) and a theoretical storm that work together and reinforce one another. Both spatially and temporally

  1. causes and effects fall apart,
  2. there is a multitude of hardly interconnected causers (fragmentation) and
  3. there are insufficient institutions .

The structure of the problem makes us vulnerable to moral corruption . Despite our moral obligation, we would not act seriously but use evasive strategies. These include distraction, complacency due to totally inadequate measures (Gardiner cites the Kyoto Protocol as an example ), unreasonable doubts or selective attention. Ultimately, the complexity of the problem offers convenient pretexts to decide barely effective action and to pass the burden on to future generations.

“My thesis is this. The peculiar features of the climate change problem pose substantial obstacles to our ability to make the hard choices necessary to address it. Climate change is a perfect moral storm. One consequence of this is that, even if the difficult ethical questions could be answered, we might still find it difficult to act. For the storm makes us extremely vulnerable to moral corruption. "

“My thesis is this. The unique characteristics of the climate change problem pose significant barriers to our ability to make the difficult decisions that need to be made to face it. Climate change is the perfect moral storm. As a result, even if we could answer the tough ethical questions, it would still be difficult for us to act. Because the storm makes us extremely vulnerable to moral corruption. "

- Gardiner : A Perfect Moral Storm: Climate Change, Intergenerational Ethics and the Problem of Moral Corruption

The global storm

Cumulative Emissions Per Capita, 1950–2000: Global Fragmentation of Historical Responsibility.

No matter where greenhouse gases are emitted, they are distributed everywhere. While most of the emissions are caused by industrialized countries, the consequences of global warming mainly affect other, largely distant, vulnerable and poorer countries that have historically emitted little and are currently still emitting comparatively little. It is individually rational for states to barely act. The problem has, among other things, the structure of a tragedy of the commons , a special form of the prisoner's dilemma . In addition, the causes of the problem, namely greenhouse gas emissions, can be found almost everywhere in the infrastructure of contemporary society and ambitious climate protection largely calls into question the widespread lifestyle. If nearly perfect substitutes can not be found, there will be great resistance to climate protection.

The intergenerational storm

Intergenerational fragmentation: Even with strict climate protection measures for one generation, the greenhouse gas concentrations remain in the atmosphere for a long time and have an effect over many generations.

The cumulative level of emissions caused over many decades by many generations is decisive for the type and extent of the consequences. Past and present emissions remain in the atmosphere for centuries to tens of thousands of years and have an effect over many generations. People currently alive are comparatively little affected by their own emissions.

Generations living now have hardly any incentive to act and pass the buck on. But this means that the same incentive structure also applies to the following generation, who also pass the buck on, etc. A kind of intergenerational prisoner's dilemma arises, which Gardiner calls the Pure Intergenerational Problem . Investing in carbon-intensive infrastructure, the resulting sunk costs and lock-in effects, as well as exponential economic growth, can make non-action even more difficult for the next generation and thus make in-action appear even more attractive to them.

Political institutions usually have too short a time horizon for such problems. However, while a united approach is at least possible for simultaneously existing, spatially separate polluters, it is ruled out for polluters who are temporally separated. Gardiner sees the temporal storm as even more serious than the global storm.

The theoretical storm

Tools for dealing with very long-term problems are, according to Gardiner, not well developed. He mentions here the economic tool of social cost-benefit analysis . There are difficulties in taking into account international justice, intergenerational ethics, scientific uncertainty or an appropriate relationship between man and nature. In global warming, all of these difficulties come together.

reception

Gardiner's description of the peculiarities of the climate change problem received a lot of professional attention. His 2006 article and preparatory work have been included in anthologies on environmental ethics and climate change. The metaphor of the perfect moral storm and the proposed structure were used by other ethicists in analyzing the problem and possible solutions. The more detailed presentation in his 2011 book also attracted public attention. So called The Standard is one "of the best and most clear-sighted books, ethical tragedy of climate change. '"

The American philosopher Dale Jamieson sees Gardiner's book as a success, it largely explains why mankind has so far failed to act. Unlike Gardiner, Jamieson believes that humanity does not yet have sufficient moral norms and concepts that address climate change and that humanity does not do justice to. So it would be a serious ethical failure, a tragedy, but that was something other than failing to live up to its own principles. Jamieson sees the challenge in developing new moral norms that do justice to the problem.

For Peter Singer , Gardiner's approach is one that suggests extreme pessimism. He replies that, for example, the attitude of many European countries gives cause for hope, even if it still leaves a lot to be desired. Singer strongly criticizes the attitude of the USA, which, after exerting significant influence on the Kyoto Protocol, did not ratify it. But the USA has also been affected by extreme events such as Hurricane Katrina , and there could therefore be a reason for the USA to act out of self-interest.

Fonts

Monographs

  • Stephen M. Gardiner: A Perfect Moral Storm: The Ethical Tragedy of Climate Change . Oxford University Press, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-19-537944-0 .
  • Stephen M. Gardiner and David A. Weisbach: Debating Climate Ethics (=  Debating Ethics ). Oxford University Press, New York 2016, ISBN 978-0-19-999648-3 .

Articles (selection)

Editing

  • Stephen Gardiner, Simon Caney, Dale Jamieson, and Henry Shue (Eds.): Climate Ethics: Essential Readings . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2010.
  • Stephen Gardiner: Virtue Ethics: Old and New . Cornell University Press, Cornell 2005.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gardiner, SM (No longer available online.) Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences, archived from the original on September 13, 2015 ; accessed on August 28, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nias.knaw.nl
  2. ↑ a b Steve Yearley: A Perfect Moral Storm: The Ethical Tragedy of Climate Change. In: Times Higher Education . July 21, 2011, accessed August 28, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Stephen Gardiner - Assistant Professor. In: University of Utah websites, Philosophy. Archived from the original on June 24, 2004 ; Retrieved September 4, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Stephen Gardiner. In: Three Degrees Warmer - A Climate Justice Project Founded at the University of Washington School of Law. November 11, 2008, accessed August 28, 2015 .
  5. ^ David R. Morrow: Climate Change. In: philpapers - Philosophical Research Online. Retrieved September 4, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Cf. en: Perfect storm .
  7. ^ A b Gardiner: A Perfect Moral Storm: Climate Change, Intergenerational Ethics and the Problem of Moral Corruption . 2006, p. 398 .
  8. ↑ The presentation in this article follows Gardiner's essay: A Perfect Moral Storm: Climate Change, Intergenerational Ethics and the Problem of Moral Corruption . 2006.
  9. ↑ Gardiner means ethical questions about dealing with the problem, such as who bears how much responsibility, who should act and how or how the burdens should be shared.
  10. ↑ Paul Wapner: A Perfect Moral Storm: The Ethical Tragedy of Climate Change by Stephen M. Gardiner . In: Ethics and International Affairs . tape 27 , no. January 4 , 2014 ( HTML ).
  11. ↑ E.g. David Clowney and Patricia Most (Eds.): Earthcare: An Anthology in Environmental Ethics . Or Thomas Pogge (Ed.): Global Ethics: Seminal Essays . Paragon House, 2008, ISBN 978-1-55778-870-2 .
  12. ^ E.g. Donald A. Brown: Climate change ethics: navigating the perfect moral storm . Routledge, London and New York 2013, ISBN 978-0-415-62571-5 . Or Fumiyo Kagawa and David Selby: Ready for the Storm: Education for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation . In: Journal of Education for Sustainable Development . 2012, doi : 10.1177 / 0973408212475200 .
  13. ^ Malcom Bull: What is the rational response? In: London Review of Books . tape 34 , no. 10 , May 24, 2012, p. 3-6 ( HTML ).
  14. ↑ Klaus Taschwer: Our moral climate change corruption. June 15, 2012, accessed August 28, 2015 .
  15. ^ Dale Jamieson: Jack, Jill, and Jane in a Perfect Moral Storm . In: Philosophy and Public Issues . tape 3 , no. 1 , 2013 ( PDF ). PDF ( Memento of the original from October 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.as.nyu.edu
  16. ↑ Peter Singer: Ethics and Climate Change: A Commentary on MacCracken, Toman and Gardiner . In: Environmental Values . tape 15 , no. 3 , 2006, p. 415-422 , doi : 10.3197 / 096327106778226239 , JSTOR : 30302197 .
personal data
SURNAME Gardiner, Stephen Mark
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH England