Foundations of Planetary Thinking

Interdisciplinary

Panel on Planetary Thinking

Foundations of Planetary Thinking

INT01

Seminar

To think planetary means to take the Earth as a planet seriously. What may sound trivial, means understanding human life and societies through a constantly changing planet, which extends from the earth’s core to interplanetary space, stretches in time from nanoseconds to deep time and ranges materially from elementary particles to the earth's mass.

This interdisciplinary seminar studies a wide variety of interactions between the planet and human beings. We will see that how we know the world and how we shape our coexistence with it depends on each other. Decisions about how to continue to live on this planet, live well or deal with the loss of life depend on insights into how the universe as a whole functions, quite independently of our ability to influence it. This raises big questions. How could we obtain planetary powers that are capable of transforming the earth? What does it mean to have such powers, how can they be used or withheld? With which planetary dynamics can we additionally merge or reunite, which mergers should we end if possible?

The course is organized in four main blocks:

1.            Perspectives: Origins of planetary thinking (for example, space travel and the overview-effect) and key frameworks (for example, Anthropocene and planetary boundaries) are identified and discussed to grasp a planetary perspective.

2.            Concepts: Key concepts relevant for planetary thinking (for example, materialism and relationality) are introduced, discussed and set into relation to learn to think planetary.

3.            Issues: A diverse set of phenomena conjunct by their planetary character (for example, the Pleistocene Park or a single molecule like hydrogen) are investigated to interpret the realities we face as a planetary species.