HANNAH ARENDT’S THEORY APPLIED TO THE CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN RELATIONS WITH THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
Introduction
Hannah Arendt’s theory mainly focuses on the relationship between human-made worlds and the environment, and insufficient attention towards the human-nature relationship. In this report, the grief of climate has been discussed, and how it is increasing day by day due to the lack of effective climate action properly. Additionally, the power action concept has been described in the essay as to how humans can be used as a tool to improve the relationship and nature, as well as a creature of it, can survive side by side. Environmentalists need to be more radical in this approach as nature has been alienated over the years in the name of urbanization and industrialization. Nature humans and other species are united with each other from the beginning, and no part should be neglected so abruptly that all are going to face unprecedented challenges.
It is observed that the extinct part of nature has a drastic negative role on nature as well as humans combined. The Greenfield became desert and barren for any type of cultivation while man wanted to change the direction of the river. Human-made mistakes that harm the environment harm humans in return. Without proper investigation into the modernization of living methods of humans, the various authorities have made the world a gas chamber for future generations. The main focus of the present paper is to address the concept of climate crisis ignorance and highlight the consumption issue. Human beings a biological element have a pivotal dependency on nature as the other species have. The present study also emphasizes facilitating and understanding the political action to promote and empower environmentalists so that policymakers of different bodies such as political associations, geographical ecological authorities, and economic organizations are more careful to make any changes when it comes to the environment.
Discussion
The “climate grief” is coming in many forms. When the climate is changing the “natural disaster” is enhanced. The people from the Amazon and Australia are suffering from this type of disaster. Many people use the term “grief” to introduce the “wide grief and anxiety” that is related to the climate change effects. The lines between the ecological brief and climate change become obscured (Ojala et al. 2021. p 37). Climate change has many effects on several types of problems. The “climate grief” is concerned with the description of the “eco-anxiety” or ecological grief. There is loads of uncertainty with the climate crisis. “Climate grief” is related to both the changes that have happened already and the changes that are coming. The “climate grief” has some of the factors of what the grief theorists consider “anticipatory grief”.
The environmentalists have been struggling with climate change and how to rally or mobilize the people. Many of the significant responses to this type of challenge such as continuing the trends philosophical and political, identification with the theory of “Hannah Arendt” incentivizing the green choice individually in the market as well as avoiding the catastrophe rhetoric, which is contributing to the overall “world “alienation” (Hargis, 2016. p 475). The thinkers of the environment are invited to consider as well as use the theory of “Hannah Arendt” and use self-action as well as political action for thinking critically about the initiatives to demonstrate and address “climate change”.
The meaning of “alienation” is the separation of the people from the social aspects of society, which results in feelings of “powerlessness” or “helplessness”. “human “alienation” is related to the understanding of the soul or mind as well as the body. The theory of “alienation” was developed by Karl Marx and he referred to the concept of “alienation” when he was explaining how climate changed the produced result (Lehtonen et al. 2018. p 865). The “human “alienation” from the environment and produced socially has resulted in some sustainable challenges such as “climate change”. This “alienation” may be the reason for the “lack of understanding” of how people are interacting with the “ecological reality”, “common physical reality”, and “social reality” of climate change.
“The Vita Activa” – the literature rationally on the milieu or climate change is sometimes confused because of the difficulties of combining on one hand. The questions of the metaphysical about the individuals as well as about the environment, and the relation between the factors, conversely, political question and the ethical question about what we and the environmental threats. The name of the first issue is “ontological” and the name of the second issue is “practical”. The “Vita Activa” proposes a path that is nourishing to reconcile the challenges of both of the issues “practical and ontological” of the “environmental philosophy”. Arendt began with the three distinctions between “labor, work, and action” that consider the “Vita Activa”, a belief of “self-understanding” that describes “who” rather than “what” (Voice, 2013. p 180). Generally, labor suggests the dimension of the condition that is concerned with the satisfaction of biological needs.
There are three factors of the term “Vita Activa” and those are labor, work, and action. These three elements are related to each other in the hierarchy of society. Each of the elements is important and necessary for the human condition. The perfectionism of Arendt describes what one should be and also it describes the freedom of humans and what one individual must do to be free. Hannah Arendt researched some questions in the “human condition” that “what should do when we are active?”. She made a real difference or distinction between three activities those are labor, work, and action. These three basic activities are related to human life or the human condition. The fact of “Vita Activa” is explained and expanded by Arendt (Mayrhofer, 2021. p 9864). Arendt was linking the concept of labor and consumption with the essentiality of human life. Labor produced short-lived products and with the work, the individual simulated the objects. Labor and work may be driven alone and according to Arendt, both are fundamentally and private apolitical.
There are many paths to fight “climate change” and the ways are very effective. Climate change is an environmental disaster and this climate change is reduced in several ways. The changes in the global environment are driven by the activities of the people and the growth of the population. Climate change is the main risk to the people in the global changes. There are also health risks due to climate change (Tong & Ebi, 2019. p 9). Climate change also affects the quantity as well as the “quality of the food”, and water and also increases air pollution. Due to climate change, there is the distribution of pathogens. “climate change”: increases the recognition by the policymakers, casual pathways to the risks related to health, and vulnerability, and increases the level of mitigation.
“The argument for Constrained Consumption: the earth is not our home” – Arendt claimed that the ailment of the people is disordering and it should be asked how this factors in the thinking of an individual about the situation and climate change in both the language every day and in the reflection philosophically on the issues of the environment. It was dependent on the “factual truths” of the science of the environment but these truths are used in the political context one day (Voice, 2013. p 182). Arendt thought that the “earth is our home” but perhaps this concept of thought breaks the sense of home as a safe place. The thinking is not only about the earth being home but “it is our only home”. The home describes a strong image and the association of the planet with this image.
The meaning of term climate crisis describes “global warming” and “climate change” and their impacts on human health and activities. Climate change is a long-term activity or disaster in the changing weather conditions of any of the regions such as the typical temperature, rainfall, and more. The term climate change means that the conditions expected in many regions may change. As a result, there will also the changes in the conditions of weather (Kim, 2022. P 224). Climate change is caused mainly by human activities due to the release of greenhouse gases into the environment. The energy of the sun heated the earth and the heated earth released heat into the environment also. Some gases of the atmosphere may trap this sun’s heat and are acting like the glass of the greenhouse.
Moreover, in the twenty-first century, the educational goal poses a challenge to this model of “problem-based learning”, especially since it can be related to isolation. The model of “problem-based learning” is related to the educational approach and sustainable education. There are three different types of models of PBL: the “McMaster Model”, “The Maastricht model” and the “Danish model”. There is a problem with isolation in these three models. The model was criticized based on the education that was becoming isolated (Noordegraaf-Eelens et al. 2019. P 971). The model PBL may proceed in space separately and exist in isolation from all over the world. The societal culture of measurement reinforced this isolation. There are three core principles of PBL: one is self-directed small groups and a “problem-based approach”, the second is the approach system and the third is the attitude of the community to make sure the link to society.
As said above paragraph that the objective of the model “program-based learning” is self-directed learning: the students can be taught to be self-oriented and self-directed through the tutorial session and also taught about their self-made goals and objectives of particular topics. At the end of each session, the students are expected to evaluate their self-made goals and the extent to which the goals of the students can be realized; problem-solving: this factor encourages the students to be motivated to solve the problems in life and also motivates them to learn, for critical thinking. This factor also improves the communication skills of the students as well as the writing skills of the students; teamwork: the students are advised to work together for better results and to reduce the isolation through the PBL model (Saqr & Alamro, 2019. P 5). The students should cooperate during the learning session.
Conclusion
In this essay, the researcher implies the grief of climate which is the result of abrupt misuses of human policies over the years. Environmental ethics and values were not taken into consideration while the human population was changing during the 19th-century Industrial Revolution. Labor power action is needed whether it is profitable or not for the organizations. The essay concluded that nature, humans, and other species are habituated to live side by side. Any disruption or isolation of any species can hamper the other’s evolution. Eco-friendly steps are the only solution to this problem for the existence of all species.
The Vita Activa, where labor work actions are considered complicated tasks as there are differences between theoretical knowledge and its applications. Limitations should be erased with positive conversations among every part of involved management. The study also proposes that the active participation of environmentalists should be inevitable for any policy-making projects of organizations. Environmental movements should be promoted and taken into broad world culture. Environmental activists should be given more power be it political or financial. It also concluded that public-based learning should be promoted at the ground level of the population so that people would be more aware of the human-nature relationship.
