Recognizing Our Place in the World

Kirkham, Nin

doi:10.5840/enviroethics20163817

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our central thesis, supported tentatively by the evidence reviewed above, is this: In conducive circumstances, psychedelics can reliably induce experiences which catalyze the development of key environmental virtues, such as Kirkham's (2016) living in place. Living in place subsumes the qualities of respect for nature, proper humility, and aesthetic wonder and awe, all of which have been discussed in the environmental virtue ethics literature (Taylor 1986, Hill 1983, Hursthouse 2006.…”

Section: Psychedelics Can Promote Living In Placementioning

confidence: 90%

“…Furthermore, virtue ethicists have recently turned their attention to virtues involved in human relationships to the environment, rather than in individuals' relationships to society. As such, there now exists a rich philosophical literature articulating and explicating the environmental virtues (Cafaro and Sandler 2005, Hursthouse 2006, Sandler 2007, Swanton 2010, Kirkham 2016).…”

Section: Moral Bioenhancement and Environmental Virtuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, however, which specific environmental virtue might be a target for moral bioenhancement using psychedelics? Here we draw on work in environmental virtue ethics by Kirkham (2016), who develops a characterization of a "master" environmental virtue that she calls living in place. Kirkham argues that in order to specify such an environmental and technological virtue, we must ask: what complex unity of characteristics and dispositions might dispose us to behave towards technology and the environment in a way characterized by humility and an appreciation of our place in the world?…”

Section: Moral Bioenhancement and Environmental Virtuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Environmental humility, then, can be characterized broadly as a proper degree of self-knowledge, or understanding of one's place in the world, including the limits to one's capacity for prediction and control through technological, or other, means. Drawing further on Hursthouse's discussion of "aesthetic wonder" and "respect for nature" as possible environmental virtues, Kirkham argues that if we can give a proper specification of what we mean by environmental and technological humility, it is likely to involve wonder and aesthetic appreciation, and certainly will entail something akin to "respect for nature" (Hursthouse 2006, Kirkham 2016.…”

Section: Moral Bioenhancement and Environmental Virtuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent empirical evidence suggests that a single moderate-to-high dose psychedelic experience can durably elevate feelings of nature-relatedness, a strong predictor of pro-environmental behaviors. We offer an interpretation of this phenomenon in terms of the framework of environmental virtue ethics, and propose that transformative psychedelic experiences can facilitate the acquisition of a "master" environmental virtue known as living in place (Kirkham 2016). The intellectual pay-off of this argument is twofold: for those working in the tradition of environmental virtue ethics, it draws attention to a uniquely relevant biotechnological intervention, and for those interested in the moral enhancement potential of psychedelics, it provides a conceptual framework for thinking about psychedelics' bestestablished effects on morally relevant attitudes and behaviors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Psychedelics and environmental virtues

Kirkham

Letheby

2022

Philosophical Psychology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The urgent need for solutions to critical environmental challenges is well attested, but often environmental problems are understood as fundamentally collective action problems.However, to solve these problems, there is also a need to change individual behavior. Hence, there is a pressing need to inculcate in individuals the environmental virtuesvirtues of character that relate to our environmental place in the world. We propose a way of meeting this need, by the judicious, safe, and controlled administration of "classic" psychedelic drugs as a way to catalyze the development of environmental virtuesa form of moral bio-enhancement.Recent evidence shows that psychedelics can be given safely in controlled environments, and can induce vivid experiences of unity and connectedness. These experiences, in turn, can durably increase feelings of nature-relatedness and pro-environmental behaviors. Therefore, we argue that responsible psychedelic use can reliably catalyze the development of a key environmental virtue known as living in place. This is a "master environmental virtue" that subsumes the qualities of respect for nature, proper humility, and aesthetic wonder and awe.Our account advances the environmental virtues debate by introducing a relevant practical proposal, and advances the psychedelic moral enhancement debate by providing a muchneeded conceptual framework.

show abstract

Section: Psychedelics Can Promote Living In Placementioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Moral Bioenhancement and Environmental Virtuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Moral Bioenhancement and Environmental Virtuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Moral Bioenhancement and Environmental Virtuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations