No one can deny that current environmental issues—such as climate change, the decline in biodiversity, and the disruption of biogeochemical cycles—have become major societal challenges since the end of the 20th century. Their near-disappearance from the political agenda during and after the COVID-19 pandemic may certainly have led some to believe that they were no longer relevant. But last summer’s drought across much of Europe and elsewhere in the world has painfully brought them back to our attention.

In the face of these challenges, what contribution can philosophy possibly make? And conversely, what effect do these challenges have on philosophy? In his presentation, Gérald Hess proposes to explore, on the one hand, some of the contributions of philosophical thought to the environment and the environmental sciences (ecology, geology, climatology, biology, etc.), and, on the other hand, how environmental issues and the environmental sciences might influence philosophical reflection.