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Climate Change and Health: Essay on the Limits of Naturalism

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Climate Change and Health Hazards

Part of the book series: Climate Change Management ((CCM))

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Abstract

One of the main problems of the twenty-first century is climate change and its impacts on global health. Nonetheless, there is a certain optimism that is rooted in the new world opened up by the possibilities of technoscience, namely in the control of health and climatic and environmental hazards. But on the horizon of these possibilities, there are increasingly clear signs that technological and scientific naturalism alone is running out of capacity to contain its own challenges. Naturalism has problems in resolving climate change impacts on health, founding ethics and epistemology, and defining relations with non-humans. In an era that is largely dependent on the actions that result from our thinking, there is a call to imagine multiverses or different versions of what naturalism seems to present as a single reality. This essay aims to explore the limits of naturalism to address climate change health hazards.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is based on the Introduction to the network project “Composing worlds: humanities, well-being and health in the 21st century” (Compor mundos: humanidades, bem-estar e saúde no século XXI), supported by Fundação Ensino e Cultura Fernando Pessoa (FFP).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. FP-I3ID, Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, University Fernando Pessoa (UFP), Praça Nove de Abril, 349, 4249-004, Porto, Portugal

    Marina Prieto Afonso Lencastre, Eduardo Paz Barroso, Álvaro Campelo, Teresa Martinho Toldy, Susana Magalhães, Ana Gabriela Frazão-Nogueira & Rui Estrada

  2. Fernando Pessoa Behaviour and Social Sciences Research Centre (FP-B2S), University Fernando Pessoa (UFP), Praça Nove de Abril, 349, 4249-004, Porto, Portugal

    Marina Prieto Afonso Lencastre & Álvaro Campelo

  3. Centre for Functional Ecology—Science for People & the Planet (CFE), TERRA Associate Laboratory, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456, Coimbra, Portugal

    Diogo Guedes Vidal

  4. LabCom–Communication & Arts Research Unit, University of Beira Interior, Rua Marquês D’Ávila E Bolama, 6201-001, Covilhã, Portugal

    Eduardo Paz Barroso

  5. Centre for Research in Anthropology (CRIA), Edifício ISCTE, Sala 2w2, 1649-026, Lisbon, Portugal

    Álvaro Campelo

  6. Centre for Social Studies (CES), University of Coimbra, Colégio de S. Jerónimo, Apartado 3087, 3000-995, Coimbra, Portugal

    Teresa Martinho Toldy

  7. Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), Universidade Do Porto, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal

    Susana Magalhães

  8. ICNOVA—Instituto de Comunicação da NOVA, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais E Humanas, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Ana Gabriela Frazão-Nogueira

  9. Center for Transdisciplinary Research «Culture, Space and Memory» (CITCEM), Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Porto (FLUP), Via Panorâmica Edgar Cardoso S/N, 4150-564, Porto, Portugal

    Rui Estrada

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  1. Marina Prieto Afonso Lencastre
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  2. Diogo Guedes Vidal
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  4. Álvaro Campelo
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  7. Ana Gabriela Frazão-Nogueira
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Life Sciences, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Centre for Functional Ecology - Science for People & the Planet (CFE), TERRA Associate Laboratory, Department of Life Sciences (DCV), University of Coimbra (UC), Coimbra, Portugal

    Diogo Guedes Vidal

  3. UFP Energy, Environment and Health Research Unit (FP-ENAS), University Fernando Pessoa (UFP), Porto, Portugal

    Maria Alzira Pimenta Dinis

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Lencastre, M.P.A. et al. (2023). Climate Change and Health: Essay on the Limits of Naturalism. In: Leal Filho, W., Vidal, D.G., Dinis, M.A.P. (eds) Climate Change and Health Hazards. Climate Change Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26592-1_2

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