Unpacking the Anthropocene: The Good, the Evil and the Critical Reading

Abstract

Regular heat waves and draughts in the Mediterranean, hurricanes near coasts, frequent floods worldwide, drastic temperature increases in the Arctic, melting ice on the polar caps, dwindling glaciers, dying coral reefs, mass extinction of animal and plant species, acidified oceans, polluted groundwater and, in the end, the threat of the annihilation of the human species – all these catastrophic events and scenarios are related to the concept of the Anthropocene: the age of humans has begun with their extinction on the horizon. This paper gives a brief systematic overview of the very diverse and lively discourse surrounding the emphatic term Anthropocene and seeks to outline its roots and understanding in some detail. In doing so, this text presents three possible readings of Anthropocene: Good, Evil, and Critical Anthropocene.

Keywords: climate crisis, environmentalism, apocalypse, posthumanism, transhumanism, relational ontology, complexity