Nostalgia for the light: The ecological emergency, the social sciences, and a (qualified) defense of human exceptionalism

Most insights about the ecological emergency come from the earth and climate sciences as well as from the life sciences, and as such they have upset established certainties in the social sciences and humanities. At the very least, they have forced the social sciences and humanities to refocus their attention on the ways in which human societies are dependent on the condition of planet Earth and of other life forms on it. In response, it is often argued that the social sciences and humanities have to overcome their anthropocentrism and/or commitment to human exceptionalism. This article provides a selective review of this ongoing debate, certainly with a personal taint, by distinguishing an epistemological, an ontological, and a world-historical and moral-philosophical question. In the first step, the article asks how the increased knowledge of the planetary condition impacts on the condition and the results of human knowledge-seeking. The second step explores the relation between the human and the non-human, which was opened up to questioning by, in particular, some strands of research in the sociology of the sciences and technology and in anthropology. Third, the implication of the first two steps for the analysis of world history is assessed, asking about the role of human beings in creating social phenomena of large scale and long duration, such as colonialism and capitalism, and their moral responsibility for the impact of these phenomena on the planet and on human and non-human life. In conclusion, it is argued that ontological anthropocentrism can be overcome, but that some degree of human exceptionalism is unavoidable in epistemological terms and necessary in moral-philosophical terms.