Towards an Ethic of Driving
Catherine Larrère is a philosopher. She has been investigating environmental issues since 1992. We asked her about the Anthropocene to better understand how this concept is heralding new awareness of anthropogenic change.
Catherine Larrère
Catherine Larrère is a philosopher and professor emeritus at the University Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. A specialist in political philosophy, she has been working on environmental issues since the 1990s.Catherine et Raphaël Larrère are the authors of Thinking and acting with nature, a philosophical inquiry (Penser et agir avec la nature, une enquête philosophique) ; The right use of nature, for a philosophy of the environment (Du bon usage de la nature, pour une philosophie de l’environnement) and Technological Bubbles (Bulles technologiques).
Towards an Ethic of Driving
The space occupied by man in the evolution of the planet raises urgent questions of ethics and responsibility. Through their work on environmental philosophy, Catherine and Raphaël Larrère challenge the notion of the Anthropocene as a geological era, which is driven by a fascination for the power of mankind. More symbolic than scientific, the notion is first of all a platform for developing conflicting narratives, from seeking to encourage further manipulation of nature to a cataclysmic vision of collapse. In opposition to a sense of control, they develop thinking around the main paradigms of technology, advocating the exploration of possibilities via “piloting,” an approach of “making do with” that involves initiating, using, and guiding natural processes. It is a matter of possessing the humility of the pilot and the breeder rather than the arrogance of the engineer and the manufacturer. Approaching nature not as a substance, outside of man, but in a relational manner, allows them to develop an ethic of caring for that which is not us, that which is other, while avoiding participation in any kind of radical exteriority. Catherine Larrère is a philosopher and Professor Emeritus at Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. A specialist in political philosophy, she has been working on environmental issues since 1992. Raphaël Larrère is an agronomist and a sociologist. A former director of research at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), he examines the human relationship with nature and technology. They co-wrote Penser et agir avec la nature, une enquête philosophique, Du bon usage de la nature, pour une philosophie de l’environnement and Bulles technologiques.
Talking Data
Caroline Goulard is a data journalist and co-founder of Dataveyes. She turns collected data into digital experiences to make it more understandable for everyone. Thanks to new ways of visualization, it is now possible to understand a population’s needs and to develop services that anticipate new uses.
AI doesn’t replace architects but supports them
Researcher and data scientist Stanislas Chaillou investigates how AI can enable architects to support and enhance their practice. A small sampler of a new book published by Éditions du Moniteur in March 2021.
Co-creating a learning society
François Taddei is a geneticist and co-founder, with Ariel Lindner, of the Learning Planet Institute (formerly known as CRI). Conceived as a school for the 21st century, the institute combines artificial intelligence and collective intelligence to reinvent ways of learning, teaching and doing research.
AI facing complex urban environments
Hubert Beroche is the founder of the Urban AI think tank, dedicated to the field of urban artificial intelligence. He is the curator of the Eyes on the street lecture series, run together in partnership with the SCAI (Sorbonne Center for Artifical Intelligence), and explains here how urban AI can help us understand the city.
Complexity, multiplicity, and adapatation within ecosystems
Contemporary architectural research is often fascinated by biological life but with an approach that goes beyond simple organic metaphors thanks to recent technological developments. Alisa Andrasek discusses the link between biology and her architectural practice, and her interest in the distribution of information in natural processes—a complexity that she tries to approach via big data. Her work in computational design is influenced by the convergence between information and materials, in an increasingly complex and open synthesis which enables it to go beyond the production of form and address the dynamic processes of matter itself. Alisa Andrasek is an architect, director and founder of the Biothing laboratory. She teaches at the Architectural Association of London.
Modeling the City Using Proteins
Researcher Claire Lesieur works at the CNRS Ampère Laboratory on the Go Pro project, which applies a computational model developed for protein folding to urban environments. The shape-changing properties of proteins are put to use in an attempt to map out the opportunities for urban growth that don’t involve urban sprawl.
Demystifying and Repoliticizing Urban Data
In the face of the promises of the prophets of artificial intelligence and the marketing of those major economic players promoting the smart city as a solution to urban ills, Jérôme Denis and David Pontille remind us of the irreducible materiality and fragility of cities. Demystifying what they perceive as a form of “neopositivism” of data, they point out that data doesn’t exist per se, and in fact must be generated and then maintained at a significant cost. As a result, data is never neutral and takes on a fundamentally political dimension. Understanding this framework leads them to promote a paradigm of maintenance and fragility, instead of the more common one of sustainability and resilience, when approaching urban realities.
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