Gaia Theory and the Anthropocene:

Radical Contingency in the Posthuman Future

Authors

  • D. B. Dillard Wright

Keywords:

Latour, Lovelock, Gaia hypothesis, Posthumanism, Plastics, Systems theory

Abstract

Good readings of the Gaia hypothesis of James Lovelock understand the theory as positing multiple, interlocking Earth systems, characterized by rapidly-changing feedback loops, in a way that is harmonious both with Darwinian evolution and contemporary climate science. The dawning of the geologic epoch of the Anthropocene offers little comfort for those who would like to preserve a providential role for human beings in the unfolding of planetary systems. The climate crisis and its attendant catastrophes demonstrate that human beings cannot control themselves, much less the Earth systems on which they depend. The Gaia hypothesis, properly understood, provides an insight into the shock of radical contingency, the realization that the Earth and life can go along perfectly well without human beings. The Gaia hypothesis provides a good framework for seeing the place of humanity at the dawn of the Anthropocene, a decentering of the human even as humanity alters every Earth system and biome.

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Author Biography

D. B. Dillard Wright

B. Dillard-Wright is an Associate Professor in philosophy at the University of South Carolina Aiken. Dillard-Wright’s research began in phenomenology with an investigation of animality in the works of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Her journal articles and book chapters explore topics in animal studies, environmental ethics, philosophy of place, and philosophy of mind. This research is enabled by a funded sabbatical grant from USC Aiken awarded for the fall semester of 2017.

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Published

2021-11-08

How to Cite

Wright , D. B. D. (2021). Gaia Theory and the Anthropocene: : Radical Contingency in the Posthuman Future. Sanglap: Journal of Literary and Cultural Inquiry, 5(2), 19–29. Retrieved from http://sanglap-journal.in/index.php/sanglap/article/view/105