Publication Details

Abstract

This article proposes to deconstruct the philosophical foundations of the Anthropocene based on Whitehead’s philosophy or cosmology. After questioning the scientific or geological validity of this notion and having shown how this notion was inseparable from the question of technology, it brings to light its philosophical foundations by isolating three moments in the history of philosophy. Philosophically, the Anthropocene is founded on the idea that human beings are essentially different from the other living beings, among other things, in their technical capacities. These three moments correspond to three different representations of technology: (1) the Promethean moment of ancient Greece. In this time, technology is understood as a “know-how” (“savoir-faire ”). It saves humans from the certain death that their nakedness promises to them. (2) The modern moment of Descartes who defines technology as a power. (3) The contemporary moment of Heidegger for whom modern technology is a huge peril. From this point of view, the “general organology” that Canguilhem introduced corresponds to a first questioning of this cosmology. After defining “general organology,” this paper shows how and why it fails to deconstruct the Anthropocene. This paper finally presents Whitehead’s cosmology that ultimately offers a better weapon to deconstruct the Anthropocene.