Anthropozän – Klimawandel – Biodiversität

The volume will firstly analyse the cultural-historical background of the current upheavals in the relationship between man and nature. Secondly, it is to be questioned whether the current crisis necessitates a conceptual redefinition of the value of nature in ethical-normative terms and what the legal consequences of such a redefinition would be. Thirdly, the question of the volume is also directed towards the anthropological dimension of the relationship between man and nature, which has changed in a fundamental way. Symbolic of this change is the designation of our present as the "Anthropocene." In August 2016, this name was officially adopted by the International Geological Society after, in the end, the only points of contention were when this epoch began and which marker should be taken as the criterion for its beginning: the proliferation of plastic waste, concrete, soot, chicken bones, or the accumulation of radioactive elements in the soil (it was agreed on the latter and the year 1950 as the beginning). The fact that this change cannot only be documented objectively, but represents a threatening scenario, is represented by the topics "climate change" and "biodiversity", to which several contributions are dedicated in this volume.