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The Ecology of Fear and Climate Change: A Pragmatist Point of View
[L'écologie de la peur et le changement climatique : Un point de vue pragmatique]

Author

Listed:
  • Damien Bazin

    (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UniCA - Université Côte d'Azur)

  • Jerome Ballet

    (GRETAH, Groupe de recherche en économie théroriqe appliquée - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, BSE - Bordeaux Sciences Economiques - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Emmanuel Petit

    (BSE - Bordeaux Sciences Economiques - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

The ecology of fear has become a common rhetoric in efforts to support climate mitigation. The thesis of the collapse is an extreme version, asserting the inevitable collapse of the world. Fear, then, becomes the ultimate emotion for spurring action. In this article, drawing on the work of the pragmatist John Dewey, we show that fear is an ambiguous emotion. Dewey stressed the quality of an emotion. Following his reasoning, this article draws a distinction between intense and moderate fear. Intense fear annihilates action, while moderate fear fulfils the conditions for an emotion of quality (in the Deweyan sense), which enables action. For this reason, the thesis of the collapse must be rejected, while an ecology of fear, drawing on moderate fear, may be maintained.

Suggested Citation

  • Damien Bazin & Jerome Ballet & Emmanuel Petit, 2023. "The Ecology of Fear and Climate Change: A Pragmatist Point of View [L'écologie de la peur et le changement climatique : Un point de vue pragmatique]," Post-Print halshs-04357858, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-04357858
    DOI: 10.3197/096327122X16452897197711
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nicholas Smith & Anthony Leiserowitz, 2014. "The Role of Emotion in Global Warming Policy Support and Opposition," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 34(5), pages 937-948, May.
    2. Teresa Myers & Matthew Nisbet & Edward Maibach & Anthony Leiserowitz, 2012. "A public health frame arouses hopeful emotions about climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 113(3), pages 1105-1112, August.
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