Discipline of Philosophy Speakers Series

Discipline of Philosophy Speaker Series presents "Entrustments of emergencies: some reflections on ethical action in deep time" by Dr. Basil Vassilicos, Mary Immaculate College Limerick.

Time: Tuesday 1st October 1-2:30 pm (Lunch will be provided) 

Location: Hardiman Building THB-G010 

Abstract: This talk relates to two actions; one of creation and one of bequeathal. They both concern what is known as “high-level nuclear waste” (HLNW), and in that sense are tied together – the collective action of bringing it about, and the collective action of bequeathing it to the future. Neither of these actions are easy to understand. Particularly, if they are both considered to have an ethical dimension, the badness (or evil) of our having created HLNW is difficult to fathom – just how bad (or evil) it is - and likewise what might be the good or right way to bequeath HLNW is most uncertain, even if one has the intuition that there should be some better and worse ways of doing so. Here, I attempt to clarify the ethical nature of that second action –bequeathing HLNW to the future. It seems like our bequeathing such waste to many futures is unavoidable. The imperative we then face is the quality with which we undertake such bequeathal. The suggestion I explore is that such bequeathal ought to take the form of an ‘entrustment of an emergency’ - an entreaty for the future to participate in care for, and memory of, the waste and its dangers. At the same time, sketching such a form of entrustment in relation to deep time quickly encroaches the very limits of what may be considered as concerned communicative action towards future forms of life. 

Biography: Dr. Vassilicos has a PhD from the KU Leuven and teaches now at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick. He has published in a wide range of areas including phenomenology of emotion, phenomenology of expression and questions of freedom, agency and communicative ethics. He is presently working in a book project with Nicholas de Warren (Penn State) on the issue of ethical action in the Anthropocene.