In “The Climate of History: Four Theses,” Dipesh Chakrabarty examined the idea of the Anthropocene—the dawn of a new geological period dominated by human activities—in the context of history and philosophy, raising fundamental questions about how we think historically in an era when human and geological timescales are colliding.This volume of RCC Perspectives offers critiques of these “Four Theses” by scholars of environmental history, political philosophy, religious studies, literary criticism, environmental planning, geography, law, biology, and geology.

LeCain provides a detailed analysis of Chakrabarty’s “Four Theses” and its implications for humanism. This thinking diverges from that of Western Enlightenment by challenging the humanistic belief that we are separate from, even above, the material world. In fact, human culture is inextricably linked to the natural material world; we are both a force and product of it.

This essay examines what the concept of the Anthropocene means for environmental law and policy. Humans can be viewed as both insider and outsider—as an integral part of nature, which we have a duty to protect, and as lord and master of the natural world, taking what we can for our own survival. Eagle explores how the choice of an insider or outsider view can influence political discussions regarding environmental regulation.

In this essay, Watt recounts discussions with her students regarding lifestyle patterns; she shows how it will be necessary to change such patterns if we are to take climate change seriously from an economic and policy perspective, and to tackle it realistically.