How to Think about the Climate Crisis

[A] superbly written book, which unlike most books on the environmental crisis, does more than expose the whats, the whys, and the hows of an extremely urgent, life-threatening global situation ... Climate Crisis is a must-read for anyone who wants to make an informed contribution to this discussion, but, more importantly, for anyone who is willing to change their way of thinking and living with the help of good research and good philosophy. * Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy *
[T]his is an original and thoughtful book that genuinely has something new to say about the climate crisis, consumerism, and our relationship to the world more generally. * The Earthbound Report *
How to Think About the Climate Crisis draws on philosophical, political, and environmental sources and stands out within the growing climate-change literature. * CHOICE *
An extremely well-written and passionate argument for action on climate change. Importantly, Parkes directly addresses the “China question,” and goes beyond the political, philosophical, and moral Eurocentrism that characterizes much of the current debate. * Hans Georg Moeller, Professor of Philosophy, University of Macau, China *
Parkes here explores Confucianism and Daoism, not as some exotic relic of the “Oriental” past to be quixotically commended as a “solution” to the current environmental crisis—as did writers in the 1970s and ‘80s with such titles as “Tao Now!” Rather, Confucianism, Parkes persuasively argues, is the worldview of the ruling party in China, which is “communist” in name only. And he finds that foundational Western thought—e.g. Christianity as Pope Francis understands it and Plato’s Republic—resonates with Confucian and Daoist ideas. Such a confluence could be the basis of an international consensus about reality and governance on which to begin to cope with global warming. * J. Baird Callicott, University Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus, University of North Texas, USA *