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Humanistic Climate Philosophy: Erich Fromm Revisited

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Humanistic Climate Philosophy: Erich Fromm Revisited Humanistic Climate Philosophy: Erich Fromm Revisited by Nicholas Dovellos A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Co-Major Professor (Deceased): Martin Schönfeld, Ph.D. Co-Major Professor: Alex Levine, Ph.D. Co-Major Professor: Joshua Rayman, Ph.D. Govindan Parayil, Ph.D. Michael Morris, Ph.D. George Philippides, Ph.D. Date of Approval: July 7, 2020 Key Words: Climate Ethics, Actionability, Psychoanalysis, Econo-Philosophy, Productive Orientation, Biophilia, Necrophilia, Pathology, Narcissism, Alienation, Interiority Copyright © 2020 Nicholas Dovellos Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................... iii Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 Part I: The Current Climate Conversation: Work and Analysis of Contemporary Ethicists ........ 13 Chapter 1: Preliminaries ............................................................................................................ 16 Section I: Cape Town and Totalizing Systems ............................................................... 17 Section II: A Lack in Step Two: Actionability ............................................................... 25 Section III: Gardiner’s Analysis ..................................................................................... 30 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 38 Chapter 2: Critical Conversations .............................................................................................. 41 Section I: The OUP ....................................................................................................... 41 Section II: Ethics Across Time....................................................................................... 48 Section III: A Consequence of Hyper-Analysis .............................................................. 57 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 62 Chapter 3: Broome and Climate Ethics ...................................................................................... 64 Section I: Situating Broome in the Discussion ............................................................... 66 Section II: Broome’s Econo-Philosophy ........................................................................ 80 Section III: Fromm Left Field ........................................................................................ 92 Part II: Fromm and Humanism ................................................................................................ 105 Chapter 4: Fromm Here to There ............................................................................................. 111 Section I: Fromm’s Motivating Force: Getting Gas ...................................................... 112 Section II: Fromm’s Ontology: Here ............................................................................ 124 Section III: Fromm’s Dichotomies: Albuquerque ......................................................... 139 i Section IV: Fromm’s Character: There ........................................................................ 149 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 163 Chapter 5: Humane Humanism................................................................................................ 166 Section I: Humanistic Productiveness .......................................................................... 169 Section II: Diagnostics on the Way to the Productive Orientation ................................ 179 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 197 Chapter 6: A Giant Leaf for Mankind ...................................................................................... 199 Section I: (Anti)Humanistic Behavior .......................................................................... 199 Section II: Being Mode ................................................................................................ 217 Conclusion: Summing up Biophilic Activity ................................................................ 232 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 239 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 248 ii Abstract Given the current juncture in history, humanity is faced with the herculean task of adapting to a tumultuous present and a gimmer future. Should climate projections be accurate, there is little time to waste. This work makes the claim that we are not only in a political gridlock but also in an academic one. Researching climate philosophy from its inception, the concluding view is that no major progress, outside of a standardized descriptive analysis, has been achieved. Thus, the work evaluates an array of climate philosophers e.g. Stephen Gardiner, James Garvey, Peter Singer, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, etc., with specific emphasis on the economic philosopher John Broome, suggesting that their recommendations and assessments fall short of being totalizing in scope and therefore of producing viable theories that, if practically sought after, can achieve social sustainability. To fix the problem of a lack of social and strategic trajectory, I offer up Erich Fromm's humanistic philosophy as a suggestive model. In doing so, the argument is made that this can aid in reorienting our external/empirical obsession by shifting our focus toward our ‘interiority—our internal worlds and psyches—, since a necessary condition in achieving sustainability is changing our mindset. By focusing on the human psyche, its structure and needs, can our behavior finally shift in a way that compliments scientific recommendations and ecological demands. Hence, Fromm lends the climate philosophy discussion an ontological framework from which to better direct and more readily navigate toward less socially precarious and more ethical inclined waters. iii Introduction Reader beware: the argument made in this dissertation is neither bold nor original but is instead something that, given the current historical juncture of humanity, simply needs to be said.1 What is special about this particular juncture is that it is the first genuine situation that requires the participation and inclusion of every nation in the world, industrial or otherwise. We are presented with the opportunity to create the first ever cosmopolitan aim. Given all collected data, the failure to do so would be to invite a cataclysm so great and pervasive that life as we have come to know it, over the past 12,000 years or so, would no longer reflect the stability that allowed our species to thrive to the extent that it has. Many point to a currently on-going American Disenlightenment2 as a bulwark that acts as a global counter-current and successfully stymies any effort to move forward. But, I am of the opinion that given the data presented by scientists, the entire international community appears to be in a state of “perplexed numbness” induced by contact with a very peculiar “torpedo fish.”3 That torpedo fish? Climate change. While currently only four countries: Costa Rica, Norway, New Zealand, and Iceland,4 have managed to achieve carbon neutrality, the rest of the world remains in a stage of teenage rebellion. Whereas some countries are considering adulthood and others are doubling down on 1 I ask the reader lend me some measure of poetic license for what is not an insignificant portion of the introduction and forgives my brief aberration of academic tone for it twas not me, twere my fingers. 2 Cf. Martin Schönfeld, “American Disenlightenment: climate change made in USA” 2015, Environmental Ethics for Canadians, 2nd Ed., ed. B. Williston, Oxford University Press. 3 Plato, Complete Works, “Meno,” ed. John H. Cooper (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.), 879. 4 "UNEP Announces Climate Neutral Network | News | SDG Knowledge Hub | IISD". International Institute for Sustainable Development. 2008-02-21. Retrieved 2019-11-09. 1 continued narcissistic and reckless behavior, both are snugly nestled in maladaptive economies built on unsustainable growth and modes of existence. Despite the fact that the scientific community has managed to speak with a univocal voice on an international level regarding humanity’s circumstance, almost every other institution cannot seem to achieve any momentum due to a lack of consensus and a night sky deprived of a political Polaris. What we see is a continued failure of public policy, a breakdown in national and international politics, a preferential treatment toward outmoded economic models that assist the ultra-wealthy while continuing to disenfranchise and marginalize the great majority, and education systems steeped in globally synchronized 20th century ‘factory models.’ Confusion, apathy, skepticism, anger, and frustration are some emotional composites coloring the canvas of the modern milieu. Some idolize and attempt to recall a one
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