Thinking negatively about negative emissions technologies: the via negativa, carbon thinking, and climate ethics

Forrest Clingerman ()
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Forrest Clingerman: Ohio Northern University

Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 2022, vol. 12, issue 3, No 4, 466-474

Abstract: Abstract The ancient and medieval method of the via negativa, or “way of negation,” is a method for thinking the unthinkable in philosophy, ethics, and religion. What happens when we consider the “negative” of negative emissions technologies (NETs) as a similar call to think negatively? The comparison uncovers how thinking “in the negative” is a metaphorical practice rather than a technical object. Seeing negative carbon thinking in this way highlights some of the challenges of current climate policies. Following a brief description of the “way of negation” as a theological method and a discussion of NETs and carbon removal, this essay suggests three lessons for ethical and political discussions of NETs: the need to use the phrase “NETs” as a metaphor, the inseparability of negative and affirmative proposals in climate policy, and the recognition that the phrase “NETs” is used as a practice of thinking, not a technological object for deployment.

Keywords: Climate ethics; Negative emissions technologies; Carbon removal; Via negativa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1007/s13412-022-00748-y

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