The Anthropocene, Cultural-Technological Life, and the Ecological Turn

Philip Rose

The idea of the Anthropocene calls attention not only to the culturaltechnological conditions of contemporary life, but to the question of humanity’s place within the general order of Nature. It calls for both a better understanding of the conditions underlying human ‘nature’ as well as a new conception of Nature in general. By reframing the condition of cultural-technological life within a more complex, ecologically attuned philosophy of Nature we may not only provide a better account of how the conditions of cultural-technological life could have come to be, but provide a richer basis upon which to seek principles and ideals to guide our human endeavours.