For an Ecological Enlightenment: A Critical Theory of the Modern Concept of Nature

In the Anthropocene, addressing climate change and environmental challenges require more than relying on technological solutions, despite what some interpretations of “sustainability” suggest. In this paper, I propose a new idea of Enlightenment, one in which nature is not simply preserved for sustainable development. First, I explore the paradoxes of a certain modern notion of Enlightenment through the lens of critical theory. This conception of Enlightenment treats nature as something to be controlled and exploited and the linear progress of humanity replaces the cyclical rhythms of nature are replaced by the linear progress of humanity. Second, I propose a new conception of Enlightenment, an ecological and truly modern notion. Foucault, in criticizing Kant’s Enlightenment, thinks of modernity as an ethos: a way of life in which questioning the limits of reality is the starting point for overcoming them. This reinterpretation of modernity lays the groundwork for an Ecological Enlightenment, grounded in the relationship between humans and nature, wherein “modernity” is not simply discarded but reconceived.