Green Leviathan or the Poetics of Political Liberty
Navigating Freedom in the Age of Climate Change and Artificial Intelligence
(Routledge, 2021)
Content
This book discusses the problem of freedom and the limits of liberalism considering the challenges of governing climate change and artificial intelligence (AI). It mobilizes resources from political philosophy to make an original argument about the future of technology and the environment.
Can artificial intelligence save the planet? And does that mean we will have to give up our political freedom? Stretching the meaning of freedom but steering away from authoritarian options, this book proposes that, next to using other principles such as justice and equality and taking collective action and cooperating at a global level, we adopt a positive and relational conception of freedom that creates better conditions for human and non-human flourishing. In contrast to easy libertarianism and arrogant techno-solutionism, this offers a less symptomatic treatment of the global crises we face and gives technologies such as AI a role in the gathering of a new, more inclusive political collective and the ongoing participative making of new common worlds.
Written in a clear and accessible style, Green Leviathan or the Poetics of Political Liberty will appeal to researchers and students working in political philosophy, environmental philosophy, and the philosophy of technology.
“This book offers a unique and thorough examination of how AI can be used effectively to deal with the climate crisis while also preserving political freedom, doing so through a debate with the liberal tradition of political philosophy. It is required reading for anyone interested in both the political potentials and risks of AI in the emerging age of the Anthropocene.” – Pieter Lemmens, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Reviewed by
Ritter, M. 2022. Techné.
Ritter, M. 2022. A2 (in Czech)
Vandemeulebroucke, T. 2022. Postdigital Science and Education.
Mark Coeckelbergh 