ABSTRACT
For members of the design and planning fields, waking in the Anthropocene unsettles previous thinking about relations between humankind and the sites and planet they inhabit. This essay argues that the Anthropocene must spur a new search for professional attitudes, responsibilities, and further still, a new look at the ethics of the design disciplines. Since reflecting on perspectives for action on the environmental conundrum wherein humans find themselves demands a more distant view, the essay turns to theory for assistance. Borrowing from the Australian philosopher and science writer Clive Hamilton, a set of four distinct philosophical views – or attitudes toward the Anthropocene – may help to navigate the new era. This chapter draws on these philosophical positions as instrumental in this quest. Presented in a quadrant, four ideal/typical positions emerge. The first pair, denialism and eco-modernism, dominate the current environmental debate and can be described in terms familiar to the design field. The other two, post-humanism and anthropocentrism 2.0, each demand a paradigm shift in thinking about the world; both remain largely terra incognita for the design community.
