Edward Baggs: The human science in the Anthropocene

DIAS lecture

Humans have long inquired about our place in nature. But is this question still meaningful? Geologists propose that we have entered the Anthropocene, an epoch in which life processes on our planet are everywhere decisively influenced by human activity. From microplastics that enter animal bodies to the particle composition of the atmosphere, life on planet Earth is everywhere under human influence.


What does this mean for the human sciences? Since the Enlightenment, the rational individual has been the sovereign subject of the human sciences. However, the major challenges of our time require us to seek cooperative solutions. Living within the boundaries of the Earth system requires a human science built on a foundation of sustainable community instead of competitive individualism. The Anthropocene presents an opportunity to rethink our relation to our planet, and to each other.


This lecture is part of the DIAS Mind Group. Learn more [url=https://www.sdu.dk/en/forskning/dias/research-projects/dias+minds+group]here[/url]



About Edward Baggs


Edward Baggs completed his Ph.D in 2015 at the University of Edinburgh, in the School of Informatics. He was a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow at University College London’s Bartlett School of Architecture, as part of which he also spent two years as visiting fellow in Psychology at the University of Cincinnati. He was then a postdoctoral fellow at the Rotman Institute of Philosophy at the University of Western Ontario.


His main interest is in the psychology of how humans and other animals perform tasks within social interactions, within an environment that is populated with other animals. This interest has led him to work on fundamental philosophical problems such as how it is that separate individual animals can perceive the same shared world. It has also led him to work on specific problems ranging from language development in childhood to the design of urban infrastructure and buildings.



This lecture will be held at O-DIAS Seminarrum and can be viewed on our [url=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuUBO2_ERXDj9apfMpPBVLw]Youtube channel[/url] the following week