A humbling responsibility; a remarkable opportunity

Before anything was known about the lineage of consciousness, Aristotle said that choice was our species’ defining trait, and the key to a life of meaning. Writing in the early 20th century, Heidegger had something to add; “It is only in full … awareness of our own mortality that life can take on any purposive meaning.” Imagine then just how meaningful things are getting when we are aware, not only of the death of our civilisation, but maybe even of our species.

Put the science of earth systems next to Aristotle’s virtue ethics and a strange new vision of the 21st century begins to crystallise. We are part of a planetary community, and serving it, through actions both simple and great, is the only thing that can bring us happiness. We are the privileged generation, for none before has had the opportunity to become, by the greatness of the challenge, so great in character. If we can hold back this storm we will have outstripped, and maybe even redeemed, all our forebears, from Gilgamesh through to the World Wars. That is a humbling responsibility and a remarkable opportunity. That is why I love climate change.

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